Examining the factors affecting the independent community pharmacists' career pathways

Paper presented in the practice research sessions of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, Manchester, 7-9 Sep 2008. This paper presents data gathered from a qualitative study in North west England that aimed to explore the factors motivating male community pharmacists' career decisions. It specifically discusses data relating to independent pharmacy ownership. Approximately one-third of respondents (n = 10) owned or had at one time owned a community pharmacy. 6 had recently sold some or all of their community pharmacy businesses, often in response to recent changes in the community pharmacy contract or other legislative changes. Particular concerns were the effect of the new contract on profitability and business viability. Additionally, respondents felt that businesses were likely to decrease in value in the future. Changes in capital gains tax had prompted sales in some cases. Although, in general, respondents were pessimistic about the future for independent contractors, a small minority (n = 3) were still keen to pursue this option. However, they reported that competition for pharmacy businesses meant that they were priced out of the market and had restricted opportunities to pursue independent ownership.