Data released by Locate a Locum suggested that “average locum rates decreased across all four country regions” between June 2023 and July 2024, property broker Christie & Co this week (October 9) revealed in its annual market review.
It said that over the year, average hourly locum rates dropped by 6.7% in England down to £34.67 and 6.8% in Northern Ireland down to £26.71.
Read more: ‘Peasant wages’ for ‘muppets’: Christmas locum rates set to plummet
In Wales, the average rated dipped by some 12.9% to £37.12 over the period, it added.
And locum pharmacists in Scotland saw the biggest decrease in their wages, which dropped 13.2% to £39.37 per hour on average in the year, according to the booking platform provider’s new data.
“With a combined UK average of a 9.9% reduction, it is hoped that this will provide some respite to the employment challenges the sector has seen,” Christie & Co’s report said.
“Lowest recorded hourly rates”
The broker added that “by city, the lowest recorded hourly rates were seen in Wolverhampton at an average of £24.84 per hour”.
Locate a Locum’s regional data revealed that since 2022, locum rates in London dropped on average by 25.8% down to £25.76.
Stirling pharmacists saw the biggest wage drop in Scotland over the period, with the average rate dropping to £38.05 (-22.1%), it said.
Read more: Revealed: Average UK hourly locum rate stagnates at £38
Meanwhile, the average locum rates in Northern Ireland and Wales dropped the most in in Derry and Newport, to £27.98 (-5. 6%) and £35.08 (-21%) respectively, it added.
But rates took the biggest hit in Gloucester over the period, dropping by a staggering 32.9% to £26.46, the data revealed.
“Peasant wages”
Last month, pharmacists took to social media to express their dismay at locum rates on offer to them in the upcoming festive period.
One deemed the rates - which were almost seven times lower than the highest paid Christmas shifts reported by Locate a Locum last year - “peasant wages”.
Meanwhile in February, C+D revealed that locums across Great Britain were on average paid £31.67 per hour in 2023.
Read more: Locum rate drop reflects latest in real-terms 15-year ‘pay cut’, says PDA
The rate, calculated from data gathered in C+D’s Salary Survey between October 27 last year and January 8, indicated that the average locum pharmacist rate had dropped for the first time since 2016.
But the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) told C+D at the time that the rise and then fall in locum rates was not just a “pay bubble” growing and then finally bursting.
“Rather than experiencing increased pay, in real terms actually the typical locum has been dealing with a pay cut since 2008 each and every hour they have worked,” PDA director Paul Day said.
Read more: Revealed: The average locum pharmacist pay rate in 2023
“Although in recent years it looked like [pay] might finally get back up to the 2008 levels, it has in fact fallen away again significantly,” he added.
At the time, the PDA said that 2023’s rate drop reflected a £5.77 pay cut compared to 15 years ago.
The Christie & Co report also revealed which pharmacy businesses snapped up the most former Lloydspharmacy premises.
