Executive summary

2020 has seen a shift in pace around the introduction of Pharmacotherapy services resulting in significant numbers of experienced staff being recruited from community and secondary care pharmacy teams. New pharmacy technician and pharmacy support worker roles within Pharmacotherapy services are now also being explored.
The additional demand for pharmaceutical services in Primary Care settings has led to a Scottish Government commitment to increase the number of pre-registration pharmacist places in Scotland over three years.
There is evidence that the demand for pharmacy services depends on the size and composition of the population, therefore the projected increase in the size and change in the composition of Scotland’s population is likely to increase the demand for pharmacy services.
There is evidence that the demand for pharmacy services depends on socioeconomic deprivation, therefore the demand for pharmacy services is likely to vary within and between NHS boards according to variation in socioeconomic deprivation.

The ratio of applications to accepted places on four-year MPharm courses in Scotland has been decreasing overall at both providers since 2012.
Intakes to MPharm courses in Scotland decreased from 300 in 2011-12 to 240 in 2019-20.
The percentage of first-year Scottish-domiciled MPharm students decreased from 92.37% in 2012-13 to 79.67% in 2019-20.
The probability of completing the programme in Scotland was 0.81 within four years and 0.9 within six years
The latest PRPS survey found that most respondents (95%) qualified from a school of pharmacy in Scotland and 88% planned to remain in Scotland.
159 Independent Prescribers qualified in 2021, an increase of 20 from the previous year.
There were 120 WTE Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians in the managed sector in 2021.

The 2021 NHSScotland staff and vacancy survey (covering Acute, Central, Mental Health and Primary Care) showed a total of 3,489 WTE staff in post, an increase of 5.8% on the previous year’s survey.
Numbers of WTE Managed Sector staff in September 2021 were 1,747.8 Pharmacists, 962.2 Pharmacy Technicians, and 779.1 Support Staff. There were 148.9 WTE Pharmacist vacancies (a vacancy rate of 7.8%), 100.3 Pharmacy Technician vacancies (9.4%), and 138.4 Support Staff vacancies (15.1%)
Since the last Staff and Vacancy survey, WTE numbers increased for Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff. The vacancy rates for Pharmacists have decreased slightly and have increased for Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff.
There was variation between NHS Boards in the number of WTE staff per 10,000.
Based on a comparison of GPhC Scottish Registrant data and combined employment data from the Scottish Community and Managed sectors, there are approximately 1,000 more Pharmacists registered with the GPhC than there are in employment.
Pharmacists have been added to the UK Shortage Occupation List.
Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacists increased between 2019 and 2020 in Scotland and decreased in the UK. Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Scotland and the UK decreased in 2020 for the second consecutive year. Earnings for Dispensing Assistants rose slightly in 2020 in Scotland and decreased slightly in the UK.

1 Introduction

In April 2009 Audit Scotland found that workforce planning for pharmacy staff was not well developed and recommended that the SG should work with NES, NHS NSS and NHS boards to develop national pharmacy workforce planning information to support NHS boards in taking forward workforce plans and workforce development. In response to this recommendation the SG set up a Pharmacy Action Plan Steering Group and created a Pharmacy Workforce Planning Project, which agreed that NES and NHS NSS would work together to analyse pharmacy workforce data to inform the Pharmacy Action Plan Steering Group. Following a review of pharmaceutical care in Scotland the SG published a vision and action plan, which recommended that

NES, working with key stakeholders such as the Schools of Pharmacy and the NHS boards, should be commissioned to undertake data collection and trend analysis to lead to better supply and demand forecasting, and capacity planning for the pharmacy workforce.

2 The demand for pharmacy services

Audit Scotland reported that the demand for pharmacy services was a function of the size and composition of the population and the level of socioeconomic deprivation. The following sections report the latest population projections for Scotland and the spatial distribution of socioeconomic deprivation in Scotland.

2.1 Population projections

Audit Scotland reported that the demand for pharmacy services was a function of the size and, because the number of medicines people are prescribed rises after age 50, the age distribution of the population. Therefore the expected future demand for pharmacy services depends on the population projections for Scotland.

The latest 2020-based population projections from the NRS show the projected size and composition of the population.

Between 2020 and 2030 the population of Scotland is projected to increase by 15,527.0 (0.28%). By contrast, between 2020 and 2030 the population of Scotland aged 50 and over is projected to increase by 4.54%.

2.2 The distribution of community pharmacies by SIMD

Audit Scotland reported that the demand for pharmacy services was a function of the level of socioeconomic deprivation. The following chart and map show this relationship in two ways by linking the postcodes of community pharmacies published by PSD of NHS NSS to NHS NSS SIMD data. The chart reports the number of pharmacy contractors in April 2021 by SIMD 2020 decile.

SIMD is a relative measure of deprivation that ranks each of the 6,976 Data Zones in Scotland from most deprived to least deprived.

There were more than twice as many community pharmacies in SIMD decile 1, the most deprived decile, compared to SIMD decile 10, the least deprived decile.

2.3 Demand for Pharmacy workforce from NHS Boards

The demand for pharmacy workforce continues to increase across all sectors of pharmacy practice as the shape and nature of pharmaceutical services change. Significant changes to practice are being driven through the evolution of pharmacotherapy services, automation of dispensaries and stores and digitisation of prescribing, development of large molecule medicine and personalised approaches to treatment choices, all of which will impact on the numbers and skills required by the pharmacy workforce in the future.

A key factor has been the impact of the introduction of the General Medical Services Contract Pharmacotherapy service which has seen movement of staff from acute and community pharmacy into primary care, resulting in significant challenges in continuing to provide essential, let alone desirable, hospital and community pharmacy services.

In 2021, an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU (2)), 2021 has resulted in continued pressure to ensure adequate staffing in General Practices to deliver Pharmacotherapy services. MOU 2 defines expectations of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support staff, resulting in continued recruitment to these roles, but specifically in relation to Pharmacy Technicians and Support staff who are essential for Level 1 Pharmacotherapy services.

The demand for pharmacists is also a function of policy objectives. The Scottish Government strategy Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care states:

We are committed to ensuring that every GP practice has access to a pharmacist with advanced clinical skills by 2021 as outlined in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan. It is important to recognise that there will not always be a uniform approach to the support for all GP practices. How they utilise pharmacists’ and pharmacy technicians’ skills will be dependent on the needs of the local population, the GP practice and the skills of the pharmacy team.

As part of the support for this vision, the SG allocated funding to NHS boards to employ pharmacists in GP practices.

A similar commitment to advance practice in community pharmacy saw an increase in demand for community pharmacists to train as prescribers and undertake clinical assessment skills training:

We will target resources to expand the number of community pharmacists undertaking independent prescribing and advanced clinical skills training. This includes exploring how resources to cover back-fill for the residential training and period of learning in practice can be provided in order to build clinical capacity to deliver an extended MAS and enhanced CMS.

This action was supported with a commitment to fund community pharmacists to train as prescribers from September 2021.

A further incentive for community pharmacy contractors to recruit and utilise pharmacist independent prescribers, was announced in 2021, with a potential monthly payment of £3000 per contractor. This payment is now available for contractors who can ensure an Independent prescriber is available for 25 hours per week, for 45 weeks of the year.

As part of the commitment to establish a sustainable pharmacotherapy service in every practice, the 2018 General Medical Services (GMS) Contract in Scotland announced additional funding to increase the number of pre-registration pharmacist training posts:

In order to increase the pool of qualified pharmacists to provide the pharmacotherapy service, additional funding has been secured to increase the number of pharmacist training posts from 170 to 200 per year from 2018/19.

Scotland’s Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan for Scotland contains a commitment to create up to 120 more Pharmacists to work in primary care settings, increasing Pharmacy pre-registration training places by 40 each year over the next 3 years. These 40 additional places per year are in addition to the 30 new places funded under the GMS contract.

HEPMA continues to be rolled out and developed at different rates across the Health Boards. This may transform hospital processes and services, although what impact it may have on the workforce is not yet clear.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an increased focus on pharmaceutical care in care homes, and a Care Home Specialist Interest Group of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians has been established. This evolving area of practice will draw from the existing workforce and may impact on vacancies in other sectors of practice.

3 Training market information

3.1 Introduction

Registration as a Pharmacist with the GPhC involves completing a GPhC accredited MPharm course, completing a Foundation Training Year (formerly known as year of Pre-registration training), completing the GPhC’s registration assessment, and meeting the fitness to practise requirements for registration.

3.2 MPharm courses in Scotland

Two universities in Scotland offer GPhC accredited MPharm programmes. There are 29 accredited providers in the rest of the UK and one with provisional approval by the GPhC.

England has two approved providers of five-year programmes, which integrates the MPharm with the Foundation Training Year (formerly known as year of Pre-registration training), and four others have provisional approval. Scottish students are funded by the public sector through the SFC.

The total amount of funding allocated by the SFC to support teaching in Scotland depends on the number of full-time equivalent students and the subject price. The 2021-22 SFC outcome agreement reports that the gross subject price for pharmacy for academic year 2021-22 was £9,880.

Students from the rest of the UK pay tuition fees set by each university. In academic year 2021-22, MPharm tuition fees for students from the rest of the UK were £9,000 at RGU and £9,250 at Strathclyde.

From academic year 2021-22 EU students are not funded by the public sector as a result of the UK leaving the EU. In academic year 2021-22, MPharm tuition fees at RGU for EU students were £9,000 and for overseas, non-EU students were £16,770. For the same year, tuition fees for all oversees students at Strathclyde were £21,150.

There are several demand side subsidies to support students studying at universities in Scotland but, unlike students on dentistry, nursing and midwifery or Allied Health Professional programmes, there is no additional financial support for pharmacy students.

3.2.1 Applications to MPharm programmes

UCAS collects data on applications for and acceptances into all university courses. These data comprise the number of applications through the main application scheme and number of accepted places via all application routes. We report the latest available data here which relate to courses starting in 2020.

The number of acceptances to MPharm courses increased at both providers between academic year 2019 and 2020.

The ratio of applications to accepted places is an indicator of the demand for MPharm places relative to the supply of these places. Demand for places has decreased overall at both Scottish providers since 2012.

3.2.2 MPharm students

HESA collects an annual record for each student in training from UK universities in September each academic year. We report the latest available data here which relate to academic year 2019-20.

3.2.2.1 Four-year MPharm programme

Most students entered into year one of the programme but between 2014 and 2016 all new students at Strathclyde entered year two of a five-year integrated Masters programme. From academic year 2017 the University of Strathclyde enabled year 1 entry for some students under the Scottish Government’s Widening Access programme. These students follow the Biomedical Sciences curriculum in their first year.

MPharm intakes decreased from 300 in 2011-12 to 240 in 2019-20.

3.2.3 Student demographics

3.2.3.1 Age

The mean age of students on entry to the four-year MPharm programme between 2005-06 and 2019-20 was 19.75 at RGU and 19.16 at Strathclyde.

3.2.3.2 Sex

The sex distribution has been similar at both providers during the sample period with females accounting for about 68.08% of new intrants on the four-year programme.

3.2.3.3 Domicile

The percentage of Scottish-domiciled students was higher overall at Strathclyde (88.74%) than at RGU (66.31%).

The percentage of students entering Strathclyde from non-EEA countries averaged around 8% in the last five intakes in the sample period. The percentage at RGU has been decreasing over the same period, from 25.5% in 2015-16 to 8.5% in 2019-20.

3.2.3.4 SIMD Quintiles

The SIMD combines a set of indicators across domains including income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime and is available for students who were domiciled in Scotland on application. SIMD Q1 represents students from the most deprived 20% of areas. Between academic year 2005-06 and 2019-20 7.55% of students were from the most deprived 20% of areas, while 39% were from the least deprived 20%.

3.2.4 Probability of completing

The probability of completing an MPharm course within four years was 0.77 at RGU and 0.85 at the University of Strathclyde. The probability of completing an MPharm course within six years was 0.90 at both Universities.

3.3 2021 PRPS Trainee Pharmacist Exit Survey

3.3.1 Introduction

To register and practise as a pharmacist in Great Britain, pharmacy graduates have to successfully complete 12-months of Foundation Training and then pass a GPhC registration assessment. The Foundation Training year (FTY) was introduced by the GPhC with the 2021-22 cohort of trainee pharmacists; however, the Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) (as it was formally known) was introduced in Scotland in 2006. The training year has three main components: a centralised recruitment process, a standardised training programme and quality management processes for premises and supervisors. NES pays a training grant to the employers of the FTY trainee pharmacists, which covers trainee pharmacists salaries at AfC band 5 and any additional employment costs. The pharmacists who successfully complete the FTY in Scotland are therefore one source of inflow into the pharmacy workforce in Scotland.

NES receives funding from Scottish Government for a fixed number of FTY posts each training year. Numbers of funded posts have been increased since 2018 in response to the increase in demand for Pharmacists working in Primary Care. To date, a further increase has been agreed from 2020 to 235 funded posts for the training years commencing in 2021 and 2022, in an attempt to increase numbers and contribute to employing an extra 120 Pharmacists in Scotland. The following table presents numbers of funded posts to 2022 and the latest available data on recruitment.

Each year NES asks the PRPS/FTY trainees to complete an exit survey about their career plans when they are about to finish their training.

3.3.2 Results

There were 193 unique respondents to the NES PRPS/FTY exit survey, a response rate of 92.8%. Where an individual submitted more than one response, we report the second response only.

95% of respondents qualified from a pharmacy school in Scotland.

66.3% of respondents identified themselves as British Nationals. 15.5% reported other nationalities and 18.1% did not respond.

Respondents indicated their intentions with regard to where they intended to work during the next stage of their career:

88% of respondents indicated an intention to work in Scotland only.

Respondents also indicated intentions with regard to the sector they intended to work in:

79% of respondents planned to stay within the same sector and 9% planned to work as a locum.

Respondents who indicated that they intended to stay within the same sector were asked to rate the importance of various reasons for doing so:

The most popular reasons related to job security, patient contact, more sociable working conditions and the opportunity to undertake an independent prescribing qualification in the future.

3.4 Post-registration Pharmacist training

3.4.1 Pharmacist Independent prescribing training

Pharmacists can register as an IP after completing a GPhC accredited course at either University of Strathclyde or Robert Gordon University. The courses are funded by NES. Courses typically take between 6 and 12 months to complete including academic and experiential components and requires sign off by a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP).

This year NES offered an additional 29 funded places, increasing the capacity from 215 to 244, to support delivery of the NHS Pharmacy First Plus service in community pharmacy, delivery of pharmacist-led clinics in primary care as part of the pharmacotherapy service, and inpatient and outpatient prescribing in secondary care. To accommodate the increased number of funded places there were 4 intakes to the Scottish GPhC accredited Independent Prescribing Courses; 2 at Robert Gordon University and 2 at University of Strathclyde.

The chart below shows the number of funded and qualifying IPs together with the cumulative number of trained and in training patient facing IPs in each year. 159 IPs qualified in 2021, an increase of 20 on the previous year. In addition, a further 21 pharmacists pursued their independent prescribing qualification through the Diploma/MSc. route.

A national newly-qualified pharmacist curriculum and assessment programme is being implemented in Scotland in 2021 to provide a standardised approach to training across all sectors of pharmacy practice. Previously the NES Foundation Pharmacists programme was predominantly undertaken in Acute and Primary Care but will be extended into Community Pharmacy practice from Autumn 2021.This will support development of newly-qualified pharmacists prior to undertaking their Independent Prescribing qualification.

The following table presents data from the 2021 NES Pharmacist Prescribing report showing IP training and activity levels across the three sectors of Pharmacy practice.

3.5 Pharmacy Technician training

Registration with the GPhC as a Pharmacy Technician in Great Britain now requires completing the SQA accredited Diploma in Pharmacy Services at SCQF Level 7 (comprises of the Professional Development Award (PDA) in Pharmacy Services at SCQF Level 7 (knowledge) and SVQ Pharmacy Services at SCQF Level 8 (competency) qualifications) or those accredited by other awarding bodies such as City & Guilds and Pearson/Edexcel.

SQA shared data with NES on previous NC and SVQ certifications up to and including academic year 2020-21.

More candidates were registered to undertake the NC than the SVQ Pharmacy Services Level 3 because it provides access to further training in nursing or one of the allied healthcare professions. Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians employed in the managed sector previously undertook the NC on a two-year day-release basis. The majority of those undertaking the SVQ Pharmacy Services Level 3 were also from the managed sector with a small number from community, as the majority of contractors used the distance learning format delivered by alternative training providers such NPA or Buttercups.

Due to changes to the GPhC standards for initial education and training of pharmacy technicians the qualifications required to gain access onto the register can no longer be achieved consecutively, they must be undertaken concurrently. Whilst this has no impact on those employed as Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians, it does mean that the Scottish further education providers cannot offer the course independently and will now require a commitment from employers to provide training placements.

The available data from the SQA includes Pharmacy Technician post-registration qualifications.

Numbers of certifications increased in academic year 2020 in all qualifications.

3.5.1 Pharmacy technician training in the managed sector

Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians (PTPTs) in the managed sector are recorded in the NHS Scotland Staff and Vacancy Survey. The number of WTE PTPTs in the managed sector has increased each year since 2014.

3.6 Summary

The ratio of applications to accepted places on four-year MPharm courses in Scotland has been decreasing overall at both providers since 2012.
Intakes to MPharm courses in Scotland decreased from 300 in 2011-12 to 240 in 2019-20.
The percentage of first-year Scottish-domiciled MPharm students decreased from 92.37% in 2012-13 to 79.67% in 2019-20.
The probability of completing the programme in Scotland was 0.81 within four years and 0.9 within six years
The latest PRPS/FTY survey found that most respondents (95%) qualified from a school of pharmacy in Scotland and 88% planned to remain in Scotland.
159 IPs qualified in 2021, an increase of 20 from the previous year.
There were 120 WTE Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians in the managed sector in 2021.

4 Labour Market Information

This chapter reports information on the labour market for pharmacy staff and includes information from the NHSScotland staff and vacancy survey, the 2021 Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey, the 2021 Aseptic Dispensing Workforce Survey and the average earnings of pharmacy staff in Scotland and the UK.

4.1 NHSScotland staff and vacancy survey

4.1.1 Staff in post

The following section presents WTE staff in post on September 30th 2021 for Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff (Pharmacy Assistants, Administration & Clerical, and Other). These figures do not include staff in training - numbers reflect trained staff only. Results are presented by region, NHS Board and sector.

There were 64.8 Band 5 PRPS/FTY Trainee Pharmacists in post in 2021, a 22.3% increase from the 2020 survey. PRPS/FTY Trainee Pharmacists are not included in the numbers of Pharmacists reported here.

The total number of WTE staff in post on September 30th 2021 was 3489.1, an 5.8% increase on the 2020 survey.

The WTE numbers by staff group were 1747.8 Pharmacists (a 3.9% increase from 2020), 962.2 Pharmacy Technicians (a 9.6% increase), and 779.1 Support Staff (a 5.5% increase).

Each Regional grouping is a subset of all NHS Scotland Boards:

North Region consists of NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney, NHS Western Isles, NHS Highland, NHS Grampian, and NHS Tayside
East Region consists of NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, and NHS Borders
West Region consists of NHS GG&C, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, and NHS Lanarkshire

The number of WTE Pharmacists continues to increase, driven by increases in AfC bands 7 and 8A.

The increase in WTE Pharmacy Technicians between 2020 and 2021 has been driven mainly by increases at AfC Band 5. Numbers of WTE Support staff at AfC Band 3 increased by just over 60% over the last two years.

A comparison of WTE staff numbers across survey years indicates continued increases in Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician WTE in Primary Care since 2013, though the rate of increase has slowed between 2020 and 2021. WTE numbers of Pharmacy Technicians in the Acute sector have been relatively stable over the past three years.

There was variation between NHS boards in the number of WTE staff per 10,000 of the population.

4.2 Vacancies

The vacancy rate provides an indication of an employer’s demand for labour.

The vacancy rates in Scotland on 30th September 2021 were 7.8% for Pharmacists, 9.4% for Pharmacy Technicians and 15.1% for Support Staff. The Pharmacy Technician staff group saw a small increase in vacancy rates since 2020. Support staff vacancy rate has more than doubled over the last year. This is partially driven by recruitment for NHS Lanarkshire’s pharmacotherapy staffing model which includes additional Band 3 Pharmacy Support Workers.

The following tables present vacancy rates for the three staff groupings of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff (Pharmacy Assistants, Administration & Clerical, and Other). Results are presented by region, NHS Board and sector.

There is considerable variation in the vacancy rate between NHS boards.

N.B. Four boards had no staff in post or vacancies for Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff. The null vacancy rate in these cases is denoted by a dash (“-”).

The vacancy rate for Pharmacists is highest in the Mental Health/Community Hospital Sector. For Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff the vacancy rate is highest in the Primary Care sector.

4.3 Community Pharmacy

The 2021 Community Pharmacy Survey was undertaken by NES in conjunction with CPS. Independent community pharmacies and pharmacies in the CCA were asked to supply information on staff and vacancies for the week commencing 12 September 2021.

There were 1,488.6 WTE Pharmacists, 795.0 WTE Pharmacy Technicians and 3,332.0 WTE Support Staff in post. Pharmacists accounted for 18.8% of the overall WTE. The largest staff group was Dispensing Assistants which accounted for 28.9% of the overall WTE.

Numbers of WTE Pharmacists have decreased by 5.8% since 2020, and the vacancy rate for Pharmacists increased from 10.2% to 12.9%. There were also decreases in numbers of WTE Pharmacy Technicians (with and without an accuracy checking qualification), and increases in Pharmacy Technician vacancy rates of approximately five percentage points.

4.4 GPhC Registrants

The GPhC collects data on the number (headcount) of registered Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians with a registered address in Scotland. The table below shows the headcount of registrants in September 2021 compared to headcount numbers of these roles employed in the NHS and the Community Pharmacy sector in September 2021 (employment figures do not include Locum Pharmacists and may not capture all Pharmacists working in a relief capacity).

*Source: General Pharmaceutical Council, NES

There are approximately 1,000 more Pharmacists in Scotland registered with the GPhC than there are employed in the Community and NHS managed sectors.

The the GPhC data contains breakdowns of registrant occupational groups by gender and 10-year age bands.

4.5 Aseptic Dispensing Workforce

Data on the Aseptic Dispensing Workforce is collected annually to support workforce planning for a new service model within NHSScotland Boards. NES collects data on staff in post, vacancies, length of service and the distribution of aseptic dispensing tasks across AfC bands.

On 30 September 2021 there were 208.5 WTE aseptic dispensing staff in post, a decrease of 1.3% from September 2020. Of these staff 48.4% (100.8 WTE) were Pharmacy Technicians, 30.2% (63.0 WTE) were Pharmacy Support Workers and 20.2% (42.1 WTE) were Pharmacists.

42.1% of Aseptic Dispensing staff in fixed posts have been working in NHSScotland for 10 years or more. 42.6% of Pharmacists, 55.3% of Pharmacy Technicians, and 20.6% of Pharmacy Support Workers have been in post for 10 years or more.

There were 18.0 WTE vacancies, double the number of vacancies the previous year. Of these vacancies, most were split between Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Support Workers (7.9 and 6.5 WTE respectively).

4.6 Shortage Occupations

An occupation that appears on the Shortage Occupation List indicates that there is a shortage of skilled workers in the UK. Employers who wish to recruit an individual from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland to fill a vacancy that is on the shortage occupation list may issue a Tier 2 certificate of sponsorship (CoS) without the need to demonstrate that a resident labour market test (RLMT) has been carried out.

As of January 2021, Pharmacists were added to the shortage occupation list following a review by the Migration Advisory Committee recommending addition to the list in 2020.

4.7 Earnings

The earnings of 1% of UK employees is published as part of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) by SOC 2010 code. Therefore, these data include employees in both the hospital and community sectors. We report the latest available data here which relates to 2020.

Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacists increased between 2019 and 2020 in Scotland and decreased in the UK. Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Scotland decreased in 2020 for the second consecutive year. Earnings for Dispensing Assistants rose slightly in 2020 in Scotland and decreased slightly in the UK.

4.8 Summary

The 2021 NHSScotland staff and vacancy survey (covering Acute, Central, Mental Health and Primary Care) showed a total of 3489.1 WTE staff in post, a 5.8% increase on the 2020 survey.
Numbers of WTE Managed Sector staff in September 2021 were 1,747.8 Pharmacists, 962.2 Pharmacy Technicians, and 779.1 Support Staff. There were 148.9 WTE Pharmacist vacancies (a vacancy rate of 7.8%), 100.3 Pharmacy Technician vacancies (9.4%), and 138.4 Support Staff vacancies (15.1%)
Since the last Staff and Vacancy survey, WTE numbers increased for Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff. The vacancy rates for Pharmacists have decreased slightly and have increased for Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff.
There was variation between NHS Boards in the number of WTE staff per 10,000.
Pharmacists have been added to the UK Shortage Occupation List.
Based on a comparison of GPhC Scottish Registrant data and combined employment data from the Scottish Community and Managed sectors, there are approximately 1,000 more Pharmacists registered with the GPhC than there are in employment.
Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacists increased between 2019 and 2020 in Scotland and decreased in the UK. Real median gross hourly pay for Pharmacy Technicians in Scotland and the UK decreased in 2020 for the second consecutive year. Earnings for Dispensing Assistants rose slightly in 2020 in Scotland and decreased slightly in the UK.

Pharmacy Workforce Report 2021

NHS Education for Scotland