Locum pharmacists are being paid 10% less on average compared to 2021, new data has revealed. 

It said low hourly rates across different parts of the UK included some pharmacists working for £17 per hour in Northern Ireland. 

Some locums reported earning £18 per hour in the Midlands and others £19 per hour in London. 

Read more: Locum offered £2 per hour less than 17 years ago

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA), which released the data, said it shows how locums face a “hostile” working environment. 

It added that pharmacist’s “earnings, and additional reimbursed expenses, are diminishing” while the demands for more services and “increased signposting to pharmacies as the first port of call” for certain conditions are increasing. 

Rates of pay 

The PDA’s data collated the experiences of over 1,300 locums across the UK, with most working in community pharmacy.

In February 2024, C+D’s Salary Survey indicated that locums in Great Britain earned on average £31.67 per hour in 2023, having risen steadily since the 2019 rate of £21.99. 

The PDA at the time said the 2023 rate reflected a £5.77 pay cut compared to 15 years ago. 

Read more: ‘Almost impossible to earn a living’: Locums take second jobs

But in October 2023, agency Locate A Locum revealed that the UK average hourly rate was £38.44 according to an analysis of 160,000 shifts on its booking platform. 

But this rate nosedived 10% in a year as the average hourly locum rates dropped by 6.7% in England down to £34.67 and 6.8% in Northern Ireland down to £26.71 between June 2023 and July 2024. 

In Wales, the average rated dipped by some 12.9% to £37.12 and in Scotland the rate dropped 13.2% to £39.37 per hour on average.  

Fewer expenses paid 

The new PDA data revealed that pharmacists booking emergency shifts at short notice reported “very little difference” between advance or “on the day” bookings. 

And many more said they were never paid expenses for travel or accommodation, with only 5% saying they were “always paid expenses now” compared to 14% four years ago. 

“At a time that the governments are seeking to recruit and retain more pharmacists to deliver their health strategy, this should give them cause to consider how they are going to ensure the profession is attractive to new entrants and existing practitioners,” said PDA union director Paul Day. 

Agencies “squeezing profit” from locums 

The data also showed that locums who had good relationships with contractors or small chains and regularly worked for them had not seen a decline in rates and opportunities to work. 

But for those who rely on agencies to book shifts, the PDA said 85% of them used Locate a Locum, and 87% said they could “never, or only occasionally, negotiate the rates for a shift”. 

Read more: ‘I won’t work for Boots again’: Chain cancels locum two hours before shift

The data showed many pharmacists believed agencies that “profit from their activity still do not act in their interests”. 

"Squeezing community pharmacists for profit is not a sustainable business practice,” said the PDA. It added there was an “alarming imbalance in the promotion of business interests over those of the individual professional”. 

Read more: ‘Less than minimum wage’: Boots offers locum pharmacists £11 an hour ‘in error’

It comes as C+D reported last week on slowly stagnating rates of pay for locums. One claimed he was offered £2 per hour less than in 2008 by the same company for the same shift. 

The PDA in response said it would welcome a sectoral negotiating structure for locums to reverse the enduring downward trend. 

In October, C+D reported that Boots and Superdrug were offering shifts for as little as £22 or £23 per hour over the Christmas period.