Snapshot of the Australian Public Hospital Pharmacy Workforce in 2005

A workforce questionnaire was sent to 198 Australian public hospitals with more than 50 beds. This report details the data returned from 99 (50%) public hospital pharmacy services and compares the results to earlier studies performed at the same time of year in 2001 and 2003. Key findings of the 2005 snapshot of the hospital pharmacy workforce in public hospitals in Australia are that: overall 69.95 of the 972.27 (7%) of establishment pharmacist full‐time equivalent positions were vacant—an improvement from the 2003 figure of 10%; 1 in 3 hospital pharmacists work part‐time; almost 1 in 3 hospital pharmacists have a postgraduate qualification; number of pre‐registration positions available has remained steady despite an increase in the number of pharmacy graduates; percentage of hospital pharmacy technicians with formal qualifications as a pharmacy technician or pharmacist has increased to over 45%; 66 respondents indicated the need for additional 154.68 pharmacists full‐time equivalent (or an increase of 16%) in the next two years. The majority of these related to extending clinical pharmacy services and the ongoing introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in public hospitals.