Over half of pharmacists report that COVID-19 has impacted their mental health

A new survey published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in partnership with Pharmacist report has revealed the impact of COVID-19 on pharmacists’ mental health and wellbeing.

According to the survey, over half (54%) of pharmacists believed that the pandemic had impacted their mental health and wellbeing to a partial extent, with nearly a third (31%) reporting that it had a ‘significant’ effect.

In addition, 72% of respondents said that generally their work had negatively affected their mental health and wellbeing, citing issues such as increased demand, inadequate staffing, long bours and lack of breaks and time off.

The survey also found that 40% of respondents felt their mental health was OK while 33% of respondents said it was not good and a further 10% said it was poor.

“Our campaigning led to access to NHS wellbeing services being granted to pharmacists and their teams for the first time,” said RPS president Sandra Gidley.

“We want to see this continue beyond the pandemic and extended to include access to NHS occupational health services too. It would be deeply unjust if support for the country’s third largest health profession, who have worked so hard this year, was simply switched off once the immediate crisis is over,” she added.