Introduction: The 2002 pharmacy employment census revealed that a surprisingly high proportion of the GB pharmacy workforce were employed as locums. (1) In light of this an exploratory qualitative study was commissioned by the RPSGB to explore in more depth people's motivations for choosing locum work. This paper reports on findings to date on the emerging dominant theme of 'flexibility'. Findings on the different 'types' of locum pharmacist within the workforce are also described.

Methods: From a stratified random sample of locum pharmacists drawn from the 2002 census, 50 locums were selected for interview from among those who agreed to take part in the study. The original sample was stratified according to sector, gender, age and ethnic group to ensure a range of different pharmacists were included. To date, 28 qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews have been conducted, recorded and fully transcribed. Based on a 'grounded theory' approach the transcripts have undergone preliminary analysis by three researchers.

Findings: Although motivations for choosing locum work vary according to personal circumstances, a common driver is the need for flexibility. Being able to choose your own working patterns and balancing them with other commitments is seen as a huge advantage. While family commitments play an important part behind the need for flexibility, domestic duties are by no means the sole driver. People cited a colourful range of other pursuits that were not only leisure-related, but often involved other non-pharmacy related employment (eg, professional singer) or voluntary or community-oriented duties (eg, local council duties). Another important dimension of flexibility, apart from work 'time', is that of 'place'. Choosing ones place of work also appears to be an important driver. Comments such as: "if I don't like a place, I won't go back", illustrate the degree to which locums can 'cherry pick'.

As established from the 2002 pharmacy workforce census, the locum workforce is also extremely heterogeneous in relation to pharmacists' demographic characteristics. (1) Data from this study however, also show another level of diversity and complexity, in relation to the number and types of pharmacies people work in. Some pharmacists are truly peripatetic in their work patterns, working for a number of companies across a number of sites, often at short notice. Others are more rigid and fulfil a role more closely resembling that of a part-time employee by working at the same store for the same amount of hours each week, but as a self employed locum.

Discussion: Choosing place as well as hours of work illustrates the extent to which the pharmacy labour market is an 'employee's market' at present. The possibility of this situation changing in the future may raise some important issues for workforce planning. The study also illustrates the degree to which pharmacists have taken the 'work/life' balance to heart, such that pharmacy employers may need to re-design recruitment and retention packages.

References
1. Hassell K, Shann P. (2003) The National Workforce Census: (1) Locum Pharmacists and the Pharmacy Workforce in Britain. Pharm J, 270:658-659.