The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer to extend pay rise to community pharmacists who are on a battle against current Covid-19 pandemic by risking their own lives.
The latest move by the RPS follows the announcement made earlier this week which included pay rises for a number of professional groups including doctors, dentists and teachers. However, the frontline workers including pharmacists, as well as nurses and social care workers were left out from pay hike list.
In a letter to Rishi Sunak, the pharmacy body urged the chancellor to take action and extend the pay rise to all pharmacists, many of whom work on the frontline.
When it comes to the pay hike list, the government has failed to recognise the critical role of the pharmacy profession and other healthcare professionals working in and for the NHS, RPS said.
“Pay settlements for the pharmacy profession have not kept up with the pace of inflation over the past decade, effectively resulting in pay regression. The omission of pharmacists and their teams from this round of pay awards only compounds this issue and quite frankly is yet another kick in the teeth for the profession,” RPS pointed out.
The letter to the Chancellor builds on asks for additional funding for community pharmacy teams to support the network for the future and to help prepare for a potential second wave of Covid-19 this winter, RPS added.
"The pharmacy response and clinical leadership shown during the pandemic has been exceptional and has attracted unparalleled public acknowledgement and support across the country.
“It is incredibly disappointing therefore that the omission of pharmacists and their teams in the current support for pay increases is yet another example of the poor acknowledgement by the Government of the essential role of pharmacists and their teams.’’
The omission of pharmacists is also has significant implications for the future attractiveness of the profession and the recruitment to essential pharmacist posts.
“As well taking action to extend this week’s pay rise to NHS employed pharmacists, we also encourage the Government to undertake a wider pay review of pharmacists across all sectors,” the RPS concluded.
