Looks like pay for pharmacy locums in the UK is on the upswing.
But why? The standard economics 101 rationale pulls up 6 factors:
- The balance of negotiating strength between employees and employers. Pharmacy is increasingly becoming better unionised, the PDA seems to be going from strength to strength with their recent success at Boots.
- Previous and current profitability of employers. In community pharmacy at least, we are seeing a massive squeeze on our profits, we have never been asked to do so much for so little. I doubt this is a reason for the increase in wage payments.
- Labour productivity increases. This is a possibility, pharmacists are differentiating and doing more. Pharmacy locum rates are higher for proactive pharmacists who know GP PMR systems, can administer flu vaccines or are prescribers.
- Sales and employment perspectives;
- Expansion of demand. 5 years ago it was unheard of a pharmacist working in a GP centre, now it is very common for a surgery to have at least one
part time pharmacist used for managing prescribing and medicine optimisation. - Shortage of workers or, more often, an abundance of unemployed; Supply is at its highest level ever due to the new universities opening not to long ago, in
additio according to a government 2018 survey the current pharmacy workforce is burgeoning.- 23,284 Pharmacists
- 7,901 Pharmacy Technicians, (Non-Company Chemists Association data indicates 54% of pharmacy technicians perform an Accuracy Checking Role)
- 1,847 Accuracy Checkers
- 27,510 Trained Dispensing Assistants
- 17,519 Trained Medicine Counter Assistants
So what’s the take away? Locum wage increase looks like it will not abate anytime soon, this is probably driven by labour productivity increases and increase in negotiating strength within the multiples.