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Abstract
The migration of GB-qualified pharmacists from Britain is the main focus of this PhD. At the beginning of this study little was known about pharmacist migration except the size of this group: 11% of the RPSGB register had overseas addresses and 74% of these were GB-qualified. This represented a fairly large proportion of the register that was considered a loss to the GB pharmacy labour market. The migration of pharmacists is suggested to contribute to the pharmacist shortage in Britain, of which shortages in the community and hospital sectors are most acutely felt. Through a postal survey sent to all GB-qualified pharmacists residing overseas, this group of pharmacists is described in terms of their socio-demographic characteristics, employment patterns, reasons for migration, and future intentions. They are also compared to the largest group of pharmacists on the RPSGB register, the GB-qualified residing in Britain, and to the group that represents the other side of migration, the overseas-qualified in Britain. The GB-qualified residing overseas group is different to the other groups on the register. Generally, there are more men in this group and a higher proportion work in industry. These pharmacists tend to be of working age, whilst almost two-fifths are overseas nationals. The countries these pharmacists mostly reside in are the USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Hong Kong and the UK (not GB). Analysis of the survey data uncovers many differences by country and by economic activity group, suggesting the GB-qualified residing overseas is not one homogeneous group. Potential groups of pharmacists that may be attracted back to the GB pharmacy labour market are identified through the analysis. Through this analysis, five main migrant groups are identified: the career migrant, the migrant partner, the lifestyle migrant, the returning home migrant and the retired migrant. Two migrant groups are more likely to return to the GB pharmacy labour market than the other groups, these are the migrant partner (in the USA, Australia and the UK) and the career migrant (in Hong Kong, Ireland, the UK and Australia). Generally, pharmacists that might return to the GB pharmacy labour market are likely to be GB British, working in healthcare or/and keeping their CPD updated. However, this group of pharmacists should not be relied upon as potential returners to the GB pharmacy workforce. At the time of this research there were more pharmacists leaving Britain than entering, however, over the two years of monitoring the register data this gap was narrowing. If the GB qualified pharmacists who are overseas nationals are excluded from monitoring (as they are likely to be the returning home migrant and as such a permanent loss to GB pharmacy workforce) the number of overseas-qualified pharmacists coming into Britain would be much higher.
