One of the questions that pop up in the SCP inbox often is from people asking what the salary is for a specific job in the UK. We see these questions a lot and thought it might be a good idea to write about them and do a series of posts on some of the most popular UK jobs.
Today, we’re looking at the salary of a pharmacist.
According to the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), a newly trained pharmacist can expect to earn around £34,000 a year. Assuming no other deductions, that works out to be £26,287.20 as a take home salary for a new pharmacist.
A level 1 pharmacist salary rises to somewhere between £34,400 and £51,600 before tax (£26,559.20 to £37,394.80 take home) and advanced pharmacist practitioners can earn up to £55,000 per year and take home £39,366.80.
The average pharmacist salary is £34,795 – although this can change depending on the employer. Sainsburys pharmacists start at around £27,000, Tesco around £32,000, with Boots and Lloyds paying up to around £45,000.
What about locum or community pharmacists?
Locum/community pharmacist salaries vary but they can typically expect a high hourly rate of around £22-25 an hour. Also, locums are often required to work at weekends and may be paid at 1.5 or 2 times the hourly rate depending on the employer.
According to Andy Harwood, partner at HPG Group, a Hertfordshire-based pharmacy recruitment and pharmacy sales business, the median annual salary for a community or locum pharmacist is around £45,000-50,000 a year.
Are you a pharmacist, or training to become one? Please let us know your thoughts on a pharmacists’ salary in the comments below!