Overview
Initiative type
Service Improvement
Status
Deliver
Published
June 2026
Summary
This project loked at what recruitment and retention factors influence pharmacy workforce sustainability in rural Darling Downs communities, and what can be done to address them.
Dates: January 2024 - June 2025
Implementation sites: Toowoomba Hospital
Partnerships: Southern Queensland Rural Health, University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland
This project was presented as a Poster at CEQ Showcase 2026 (PDF, 139KB).
Aim
This project aimed to identify recruitment and retention strategies to support pharmacy workforce sustainability in rural Darling Downs communities.
Outcomes
This project identified the assets, capabilities, and challenges faced by Darling Downs communities and highlighted the critical factors that drive pharmacist workforce sustainability. Each community's recruitment and retention strengths and challenges were determined to form the basis of site-specific strategic recruitment plans. These identify what is working well, what can be fixed and what cannot be changed but also what strategies have been used in other locations to reduce the impact.
Background
Rural and remote communities face a persistent shortage of pharmacists, contributing to disparities in access to healthcare, service quality, and population health outcomes. The recruitment and retention of pharmacists is a critical issue on the Darling Downs, spanning metropolitan, rural, and remote areas. Pharmacist shortages and maldistribution impact all settings, including community pharmacy, hospital, aged care, and primary care. Personal, professional, structural, social, and economic factors impact pharmacist recruitment and retention; however, the specific drivers of workforce challenges across the Darling Downs are not clear.
Methods
Factors that inform pharmacy recruitment and retention were assessed in four communities (Modified Monash (MM)4 to MM5) and considered seven services. A cross-sectional, mixed-method approach was employed, using the validated Pharmacist Community Apgar Questionnaire (PharmCAQ). The PharmCAQ includes 50 individual factors and three open-ended questions. The 50 factors are separated into five thematic domains (geographic, economic, practice environment, scope of practice, rural lifestyle) and were rated on the perceived importance and whether it was considered an advantage or challenge for the community. This allowed identification of both key strengths and areas for improvement in each community.
Participants consisted of 19 individuals, 18 pharmacists and 1 pharmacy manager working in one of the four rural communities. Of these, 8 pharmacists and the pharmacy manager worked in community pharmacies, 7 pharmacists worked in hospital pharmacies, and 3 pharmacists worked in both settings. Interviews were audio-recorded and conducted face-to-face, taking approximately 40-50 minutes.
Discussion
This project identified the assets, capabilities, and challenges faced by Darling Downs communities and highlighted the critical factors that drive pharmacist workforce sustainability.
Overall, the five highest-rated factors essential to pharmacist recruitment and retention were:
- respect and support between health professionals
- financial income.
- positive perception
- practice autonomy
- peer cooperation
The lowest-rated factors were:
- the availability of day care
- access to personal health services.
- locum or peer coverage
- the ability to travel to and from the community
- availability and affordability of housing
When considering recruitment and retention of hospital pharmacists, the highest-rated factors were:
- peer cooperation
- respect and support between health professionals.
- financial income
- practice autonomy
- contract flexibility
The lowest-rated factors were:
- access to day care
- cultural acceptance.
- availability and affordability of housing
- the ability to participate in research
- locum or peer coverage
These insights informed the development of strategic recruitment plans which were delivered to each site. These can be used to promote the advantages of the community and to implement strategies successful in other areas to reduce the effect of the detractors.
Limitations to consider include:
The responses of the participants may not be representative of other pharmacists or in other communities, there were differences between the communities included and practice settings. The PharmCAQ is validated for rural communities MM3-MM6.
It has not been determined if the strategies suggested have improved recruitment and retention of pharmacists, future work will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the identified strategies in solving pharmacist workforce challenges.
References
1. Darling Downs Health. Darling Downs Health Strategic Plan. 2023. Available from:
https://www.darlingdowns.health.qld.gov.au/about-us/corporate-publications-and-reporting/strategic-plan
2. Terry D, Phan H, Peck B, Hills D, Kirschbaum M, Bishop J, et al. Factors contributing to the recruitment and retention of rural pharmacist workforce: A systematic review. BMC health services research 2021;21(1):1-1052.
3. Modified Monash Model 2025. Available from: https://www.health.gov.au/topics/rural-health-workforce/classifications/mmm
4. Terry D, Peck B, Hills D, Bishop J, Kirschbaum M, Obamiro K, et al. The pharmacy community apgar questionnaire: A modified Delphi technique to develop a rural pharmacist recruitment and retention tool. Rural Remote Health 2022.
5. Terry D, Peck B, Hills D, Bishop J, Kirschbaum M, Obamiro K, et al. Sustaining rural pharmacy
workforce understanding key attributes for enhanced retention and recruitment. Aust J Rural Health 2023;31(2):218-29.
Key contact
Lucy Parker
Senior pharmacist - Transition Care Program
Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service