New data from recruitment platform Locate a Locum shows a huge increase in locum rates for pharmacists in 2021 and predicts the trend will continue.
The National Pharmacy Association has this week written to senior managers at NHS England to request an uplift in funding for pharmacy contractors to cover higher staffing costs and a range of other cost-inflating factors.
There was a 71% increase in the cost of employing locum pharmacists in England, from the 2020 average to the second half of 2021.
NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said: “There is a heavy reliance on locums in community pharmacy to maintain continuity of services with the average pharmacy operating 50 hours per week. Consequently increases in locum rates have a big effect on the cost base.
“Pharmacies face a range of general cost pressures beyond locum rates, including much higher energy costs. We hear a lot about the cost of living crisis; our members are facing a cost of doing business crisis and it’s every bit as real.
“The underlying underfunding, significant general inflationary pressures and specific cost increases relating to the locum workforce together make a powerful and urgent case for new funding.”
In September 2020 Ernst & Young (EY) completed a study of the funding, policy and economic environment for independent community pharmacy in England. This NPA-commissioned study predicted a £497m deficit in community pharmacy funding by 2024 and stated that the network was unsustainable under the current financial framework.
Locate a Locum tracked locum rates across the UK and the NPA is raising this matter with the negotiators in all four nations. The largest increase was seen in Scotland.