Pharmacists who provisionally join the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register to help with the sector’s COVID-19 effort and who work at Boots will receive the same salary as newly qualified pharmacists at the multiple, the PDA Union shared last week (June 4).

Boots told C+D yesterday (June 9) it is "pleased to confirm"  a "competitive salary that matches any newly qualified pharmacists" joining the multiple.

In January, the PDA Union announced it had negotiated a 7.6% pay rise for newly qualified Boots pharmacists, bringing their salary to £36,600 a year from February.

This will be followed by a further salary increase of 3.8% in August, the PDA Union and Boots announced.

In a policy paper published last month (May 21), the GPhC outlined that while provisionally registered pharmacists will not be permitted to work as locums, superintendent pharmacists or chief pharmacists, they “may operate as the responsible pharmacist”.

PDA: We must avoid “race to the bottom” rates

Commenting on the salary confirmation, the PDA Union said it is “right” that provisionally registered pharmacists should “be paid no less than a newly qualified pharmacist would have been paid this year if the pandemic had not occurred”.

It is “important for the profession that these rates are upheld so that the professional contribution of any pharmacist is respected”, it added.

This is so that “any further ‘ race to the bottom’ on salary rates, similar to that regularly reported by locums, can be avoided” the union said.