Is pharmacy a good career?

Junior doctors are going on strike because of poor pay, they are having to do a thankless job all for £20/hour. GPs who were previously the most trusted profession are now the most hated in Britain due to no appointments. The only doctors smiling to the bank are consultants, and it will take 15-20 years to be a consultant. If you go on twitter, you will see consultants ranting about having to retire early due to a massive tax bill hammered on their pensions by HMRC.

Pharmacy, on the other hand, is the only healthcare profession were you can literally walk into a £65,000 job straight out of university. It obviously depends on location, but pharmacy wages in recent years have shot up. Gone are the days when a pharmacist exists only on £40,000/year. The burn out in pharmacy in most cases can be ameliorated by working part-time whilst using the free time to invest in properties, shares etc.

I'm currently on £67,000/year and I work 3 days a week and spend more time with my family. My wages is the same as a GP, if not higher. I qualified just a few years ago and aim to retire within the next 5 years. I love pharmacy because of the high wages, work-life balance and career versatility.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/05/why-local-pharmacy-life-support/

worth a read if you can get past the paywall using a vee,pee,n !

A quote below from the latest Chemist & Druggist (7/10/22). Paints a similar picture to the link provided by MrLittlebigman above that may not work. The situation at the large multiple Rowlands reflects the current state of community pharmacy in the UK. At present 2 out of 3 pharmacy graduates end up in community.

“Rowlands reported a post-tax loss of £34.6 million in the year ending January 31, 2022 – almost three times higher than the previous year – while its average number of employees fell by 14% in the same period, financial documents have revealed.”

I am a little confused in what the quote is showing. Is it that the Pharmacy profession is dying or just Community Pharmacy? Also, if Rowlands is doing so bad, doesn't that open up the opportunity for pharmacists to be able to open their own pharmacies and thus make more money?

Rowlands are a large pharmacy multiple, a tad smaller than Boots and Lloyds (who are also reporting financial difficulties). Community pharmacy is very much dependant on government funding for its income and livelihood and is suffering due to the effective reduction in this funding. Contraction of community pharmacy is inevitable as many other reports indicate. Situation exacerbated by the fact that many community pharmacies are now struggling to recruit dispensers and other staff because of pay & working conditions. Some are now dangerously understaffed and resourced.

I would hesitate to say pharmacy as a profession is dying but community pharmacy is likely to struggle. 2 out of 3 graduates currently find employment in CP. You must draw your own conclusions but it looks obvious to me.

In answer to your last sentence/question. Apart from the odd and rare occasion the answer is a simple no. Multiples have considerable commercial advantages with their vertical integration and considerable buying power.

So what you are basically saying is that most pharmacists will find themselves unemployed due to lack of funding and also the amount of pharmacies will drop dramatically in the next couple of years?