A new, confidential, 24/7 text support service has been launched to support healthcare workers 'who may have had a tough day, are feeling worried or overwhelmed, or have a lot on their mind and need to talk it through'.

The NHS England (NHSE) support offer will extend to all staff, including community pharmacists and their teams, NHSE has confirmed to The Pharmacist.

The service can be accessed by texting SHOUT to 85258.

James Davies, director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in England, noted the RPS annual workforce wellbeing survey that 'shows that many pharmacists suffer stress, burnout or feel overwhelmed at work due to the intense pressure put on pharmacy teams'.

'Whilst this needs to be tackled with further actions at source, help can be provided in a variety of ways,' he added.

And he said the RPS was encouraged to hear that the the support service would reportedly be extended to community pharmacists, as well as those directly employed by the NHS.

'The RPS have consistently called for community pharmacy teams to be recognised as an integral part of the NHS,' Mr Davies said.

Community pharmacy contractor Reena Barai told The Pharmacist earlier this year that pharmacy teams were under financial pressure, suffering from burnout after staying open during the pandemic, and now being asked to deliver new services.