For the 146 second or non-manager pharmacists who completed the 2021 survey – which ran from November 26 to December 31 – this marks a £678.69 average salary decrease on 2020 levels, when the average salary for this group was £38,846.

It is the first time the average salary has decreased for this group since the C+D Salary Survey began reporting it in 2014.

In 2020, salaries for non-manager pharmacists saw a bumper increase of £2,078, while 2019 saw a £773 rise. Between 2017 and 2018, salaries for non-manager pharmacists rose by £374.

 

Almost two thirds dissatisfied

 

Some 64% of second or non-manager pharmacists who completed the survey said they are dissatisfied with their pay, 14 percentage points higher than the previous year.

One pharmacist said: “I am currently signed off work with work-related stress/depression-anxiety.

“This has been mainly fuelled by an unmanageable workload and vile customer behaviour towards my team,” they added.

Another pharmacist claimed: “Pay has generally declined in real terms over the past 25 years for pharmacists”.

Other pharmacists agreed, saying: “Pay [is] not adequate at all, for the level of responsibilities. Working conditions are a joke: [there’s] no time for training in working hours; levels of staffing [are] shocking; staff [are] expected to do everything else, like cleaning, on top of their daily tasks.”

Another added: “Pay is reducing realistically due to pay awards not keeping up with inflation.”

 

Boost in bonuses

  

However, more than two in five (43%) non-manager pharmacists said their pay had increased in the previous twelve months, with exactly two thirds (66%) of these saying it had increased by 1% and 2%.

Just 4% of all second or non-manager pharmacists said that their salary had decreased, while over half of all respondents (52%) said their pay had stayed the same.

More than three quarters (76%) of respondents also said they had received a bonus from their employer in the past 12 months. This is a significant rise on last year, when just 40% of respondents reported that they had received a bonus in 2020.

One pharmacist said they had received a bonus in recognition of the work carried out during the pandemic.

Another commented that they had received a location bonus, as they work in an area where it is difficult to recruit staff.

 

The C+D Salary Survey 2021 ran between November 26 and December 31, 2021 and was completed by a total of 1,295 pharmacists and pharmacy staff.

What do you make of the C+D Salary Survey 2021 results so far? Catch up on the coverage and share your experiences on the C+D Community