Year after year, pharmacists in the United Kingdom are experiencing increasing financial strains. This is especially vivid in the hospital sector, where the latest pay rise offer from the government is hardly matching inflation, for many pharmacists, meaning pay cuts in real terms. This, together with the hardships that we all suffered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the increasing cost of living and our salaries largely not keeping pace with inflation over the pandemic years, leads to growing discontent.
As an Advanced Practitioner in Respiratory Care in North Devon and a pharmacist by background, I see the daily dedication and the daily issues that our pharmacy team faces. One of the main issues often brought to my attention is how out of touch the GPhC is nowadays, adding to the burden of our expenses but not really offering anything in return for the profession. With the recently announced 6% registration fee increase in 2025 and further fee increases planned to cover nebulous increase in costs of regulating pharmacy services, I decided to highlight this problem to the local MP, Ian Roome. I also organised a meeting with him where our pharmacists could voice their opinions about the proposed changes.
In my role representing hospital pharmacists on the West and Wales Committee for the PDA, I believe it is vital that our elected officials don’t just hear about pharmacy in reports but see it in action.
Standing up against unfair fees
During our meeting, I raised a critical issue affecting us all: the GPhC’s decision to push through a 6% fee increase. Despite widespread opposition during the consultation process, the GPhC has moved forward with this hike. We made it clear to Ian that:
- The timing is wrong; we are in a cost-of-living crisis where every penny counts for frontline staff.
- The system is the issue; individual pharmacists shouldn’t be charged more to fix systemic pressures they didn’t create themselves. This can only lead to increased future problems with fewer pharmacists wanting to join our ranks and putting further strain on the whole system. It is worth noting that the current yearly renewal fee for a pharmacist is almost as high as the premises renewal fee, but the profits of companies that own large multiples are disproportionately high when compared to our salaries.
- Morale is at stake; our teams are already stretched thin; further financial burdens only add to the feeling of being undervalued.
Making local voices heard nationally
Meeting with Mr Roome was an amazing chance to showcase the dedication that our pharmacy teams have to deliver services to our communities and to raise the issues that we are currently facing as a profession. Mr Roome has voiced his appreciation for the pharmacists, who work so hard to provide necessary care in their communities and promised to take our concerns further and raise them with the right officials in Westminster, hopefully advocating for fair treatment of pharmacists. It is important that we, as professionals, engage with members of parliament and make our voices heard, especially when we are being treated unfairly.
Your turn: engage with your MP
Ian’s visit is a blueprint for how we can create change. MPs work for us, but they can only fight for what they understand. I am calling on all pharmacists to reach out to their local representatives to keep the pressure on regarding GPhC fees and workplace conditions.
If you are looking for ways to engage with your MP about these issues or want advice on how to start that conversation, please reach out to me by emailing [email protected].
By Michal Lamparski, a respiratory advanced clinical practitioner
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