About us
CPWS was established in January 2004 as part of the Workforce Academy, based at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Manchester. Pharmacists and professional research staff work side by side to develop and undertake research, and to provide workforce data and intelligence.
The Director of CPWS is Professor Karen Hassell, a social scientist and health services researcher with over 15 years’ research experience in pharmacy; is supported by six research and technical support staff. Their research experience has been gained in different organisational settings, and they have a wide range of research skills covering qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Our work is designed to influence policy and practice and to inform the wider debate on employment and the world of professional work in pharmacy. We also aim to provide evidence-based consultancy in employment and labour market policy and practice.
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We publish and circulate our work widely. Our research findings appear in scholarly and academic journals, but we also publish accessible reports, bulletins, and newsletters, for policy makers, for pharmacy employers, and for other users interested in work, employment, and pharmacy labour market issues. |
What we do
- We undertake commissioned research
- We can provide a data analysis service
- We provide a bespoke research service
- We can help develop research measurement tools for use in-house
- We can help network organisations or people interested in pharmacy workforce issues
We provide information for three main groups:
Employers
As an employer you may want to know whether there are workforce shortages in your area and why. You may want to understand what attracts pharmacists and technicians to particular jobs and places, and whether your workforce is satisfied with their work. Knowing what the key drivers are for keeping experienced men and women in the workforce may help with your recruitment and retention initiatives.
Education providers
If you work in a school of pharmacy our research about what attracts students to study pharmacy could help with undergraduate recruitment strategies; what students want out of their pre-registration training and where students go straight after their early training could help inform decisions about placements.
Information about graduates’ career choices and early destinations on leaving university, and information about attrition, may be useful to schools of pharmacy as part of their quality assurance procedures; knowing about uptake of and preferences for learning and training may be highly informative for providers of continuing or post foundation education or technician trainers.
Policy Makers
With workforce planning and attention to skill mix issues key to delivering appropriate health care, data on workforce supply and demand can help support decision-making by policy-makers at national and local levels; what the workforce thinks about regulatory issues, about supervision, about service developments, can help inform policy development by the profession and government.
