C+D’s 2023 Salary Survey – which polled 119 second or non-manager community pharmacists – found that last year showed the largest increase in average salary for this group since the Salary Survey began in 2014.

In 2023, the average annual salary for the group was £41,666.17– up £2,779.68 or 7% from 2022 when the average salary was £38,886.49.

Read more: What was the average UK pharmacist branch manager salary in 2023?

It comes after last year’s annual Salary Survey saw an almost £720 increase in average pay for the group, compared with an average salary of almost £38,200 in 2021.

In 2021, salaries for non-manager pharmacists saw a decrease of almost £700, while 2020 saw a bumper increase of around £2,000.

 

 

More than half see pay rise

 

The annual survey found that 57% of 112 respondents to the question had experienced a salary increase in the past year, with only 8% experiencing a decrease.

Over a third (35%) said that their pay had stayed the same.

Of those who had seen a pay rise, four in ten (40%) said their pay had gone up by between 1% and 4%, while more than half (52%) said it had risen by 5-10%.

Read more: Revealed: The average locum pharmacist pay rate in 2023

And out of 110 second or non-manager community pharmacists who answered the question, just over half (52%) had received a bonus in 2023.

Respondents received varying amounts, with some reporting as much as £5,000.

But others said that they received much less, with one reporting they had been given the same bonus as “part-time assistants”.

 

“Below inflation for the second year in a row”

 

Salary satisfaction levels remained low among the group, with 37% of 110 total respondents reporting they were dissatisfied with their salary package and only 10% saying they were very satisfied.

One pharmacist told C+D that their pay was “below inflation for the second year in a row”.

Read more: At a glance: How do locum rates vary across Great Britain?

Of those not satisfied with their salary, most blamed their employers (61%), while almost a fifth (17%) blamed the government and its lack of funding for the sector.

One pharmacist told C+D that taking inflation into account, their pay had “gone down over the last 20 years”, adding that they think that pharmacists should receive a £65,000 annual salary as a minimum, “especially now that more services” are required.

Another respondent noted that they’d received their “first decent bonus for years” in 2023 and wondered whether they were “being prepared for a sale”.

Read more: Who is to blame for 2023’s diminishing locum returns?

Meanwhile, a pharmacist told C+D they received a 5% pay increase “only because [they] asked for it”, while another said that although they had “reached the criteria” for a bonus, they were later told there were “no bonuses”.

It comes as the C+D Salary Survey also found that almost half (44%) of 110 non-manager pharmacists reported they were working one to five hours unpaid overtime and a quarter (25%) reported high stress levels.

The C+D Salary Survey 2023 ran between October 27 2023 and January 8 2024 and was completed by a total of 1,261 pharmacists and pharmacy staff.

See all the coverage so far on the C+D Salary Survey hub.