The PDA Union has given a qualified welcome to the government’s 6% pay increase for NHS employees over the next 3 years, saying it is a start but much more is needed to repair the decline in pharmacists’ real terms pay and the working environment.
Under the deal NHS staff will receive a 3% increase in 2018-19, 2% in 2019-20 and 1% in 2020-21. The Union are however grateful that this deal sees the end of seven years of so called “pay-restraint“ which has negatively impacted the health service and those that work within it.
PDA Union National Officer, Paul Day said: “This is better than NHS pharmacists have had for many years, however, this barely keeps real terms pay in pace with inflation and does nothing to take their earnings level to what it was before the government chose to restrict pay increases. Our members will not forget that the government chose to continue with the pay cap when they could see it should have been removed years ago.“
The PDA Union also point out that pay and reward is one side of the equation for any worker and that the broader environment in which they work forms the other side.
Alima Batchelor, Head of Policy at the PDA added: “Our members continue to put patients and their safety first, however the whole system is not adequately funded putting the whole team of health professionals, including pharmacists, under unnecessary pressure. A career in the NHS needs to once again be something future pharmacists aspire towards. The government need to properly fund not just the pay of employees, but the system as a whole.
The government also need to agree and deliver the right long- term strategy for pharmaceutical care, something the PDA Union have been working towards for some time. Done properly this can utilise the skills of pharmacists to deliver better health outcomes for individuals and the population as a whole, giving true long-term value to patients and the nation as a whole while giving pharmacists the career path they deserve.”