More than a quarter (27%) of the 774 branch managers and “second or non-manager community pharmacists” who responded to the survey – which ran throughout October – said they felt “not at all valued” by their employer, an increase of nine percentage points since the last survey in 2015.

The proportion of employee pharmacists who are dissatisfied with their salary has also increased, by eight percentage points, to 43% this year.

This week C+D revealed the average salary for branch managers increased by £1,262 – from £44,107 in 2015 to £45,369 in 2017. The average pay for second or non-manager community pharmacists increased by £584 during his period, from £35,037 to £35,621.

Among employee pharmacists, 75% blamed their employer, while 17% blamed the Department of Health (DH) in England for not giving the sector enough funding – marking an increase of five percentage points since 2015.

How valued do you feel by your employer?

The pie chart shows the responses to this question from branch managers and second or non-manager pharmacists:

Dissatisfaction across the board

A comparison of pharmacist employees with other pharmacy staff reveals the picture is similar across the sector.

Some 31% of the 283 pharmacy staff – accuracy checking technicians, pharmacy technicians, counter assistants and dispensary assistants –who responded to the survey felt “not at all valued” by their employers, up 17 percentage points since the 2015 survey.

Some 56% of pharmacy staff were “dissatisfied” with their salary package, a rise of 14 percentage points since 2015. Of those who were dissatisfied, the majority (78%) blamed their company, while one in five (20%) of pharmacy staff held the DH responsible.

However, the most common among feeling employee pharmacists about their salary was of being “fairly satisfied”, with 48% saying they felt this way.

Compare pay and conditions at the ‘big 3’ multiples using C+D’s interactive tool: