Locums are likely to face a tough year ahead, as employers see them as "low-hanging fruit" for cutting costs, the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has warned.

Employers would put further pressure on hourly rates as they took advantage of their "power in the market", PDA director John Murphy told C+D.

"Unfortunately, I think what's going to happen is everybody's looking at the market and seeing how cheaply they can get [locums]," Mr Murphy said. "They're treating locums very much as commodities – it's easy, low-hanging fruit for reducing costs."

"They're treating locums very much as commodities – it's easy, low-hanging fruit for reducing costs" John Murphy, PDA	More on locums PDA attacks Boots for locum contract changes Lloydspharmacy cuts locum rates to £19 an hour Graduates forced into low-paid locum shifts
	And Mr Murphy warned that Lloydspharmacy cutting its hourly rates to £19 could drive pay down further. "Employers are watching to see who's going to make the first move and they'll be right in behind them," he said. Some employers were also cutting back on the number of hours available to locums, Mr Murphy added, which would require employees to take on a heftier workload.

"The number of pressures isn't going to change, but some organisations are cutting locum hours so employees are being expected to work longer, through their breaks, and they don't have any respite to do managerial duties," Mr Murphy said.

But he expressed some optimism over the future of pharmacy, as he forecast that pressures on the NHS would spur on politicians to use pharmacists more effectively. The "political mindset change" could create new roles for pharmacists, as they attempted to provide more services to patients, he suggested.

"We are seeing a shift in the landscape for what pharmacists can do and along with that will come the promise of new roles for pharmacists," Mr Murphy said. "I have lots of concerns for the year ahead – there will be challenges with the NHS reorganisation and the economic climate – but I've got optimism that there will be a political mindset change as to how pharmacists could be used more effectively."