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“Only around half” of pharmacists have a three-month savings buffer, a survey from the Pharmacists’ Defence Association has found. 

The PDA said its wellbeing survey, which closed on October 12, 2025, pointed to “weak financial resilience across the profession”. It also found that fewer than a third feel they have “meaningful career progression opportunities”.

The survey found that around 40 per cent of pharmacists feel their work negatively impacts their mental health and that just one in three felt supported in discussing their wellbeing at work, with one in five believing their line manager is trained to support staff wellbeing.

Most respondents said they had the basic tools and training they needed at work, although a lack of protected learning time was cited as a particular concern by many.

One in five said there were regular staff wellbeing reviews in their workplace, though just one in 10 said there was “visible action” taken following a review.

The PDA said 68.5 per cent of the 1,098 respondents were community pharmacists and that this group “experienced the lowest levels of support across almost every measure”.

The PDA commented: “The survey found that pharmacists are working in environments that are often not psychologically safe, do not consistently support healthy workload management, and do not provide the development time or financial security needed for a sustainable career.

“The findings point to the need for urgent structural and cultural reform, including strengthening leadership capability, safer routes to raise concerns, stronger workload management, protected learning time, and more practical wellbeing support.

“These measures will be essential to ensuring that the pharmacy workforce is supported, resilient and able to meet future demands.

The PDA added that mental-health-related absence is “under-reported, with disclosure to managers described as extremely low because of fear of judgement, stigma, and lack of trust that anything will change”.