Where are we now?
Locum pharmacist rates have been a hot topic within the pharmacy industry for the last few years. Due to various factors, the demand for locum pharmacists is at an all-time high and this increased demand is impacting locum rates.
At the end of 2020, based on our data, we predicted that locum rates would surge in 2021. This has proven to be the case.
In our latest rates study, we take an in-depth look at the trends in locum pharmacist rates from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021.
How did we do it (Methodology)?
We analysed over 100,000 locum pharmacist shifts booked on the Locate a Locum platform between January 1st, 2021, and December 31st, 2021.
We then took a closer look at this data and analysed the average locum pharmacist rate of booked/worked shifts.
We were then able to further break these findings down and look in detail at the average locum pharmacist rate by region (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) and by City (top 50 cities in the UK based on population).
In the interest of complete accuracy, the below rates were taken from booked/worked shifts by locum pharmacists in a one-year period. Using this data gives a clear picture of supply and demand by region and city.
We also can compare the rates in the latest sample to the regional data from 2020, in which we used the same methodology, this allows us to accurately gauge the rates rise by region.
Average Locum Rates by Region
Let’s take a closer look at the data. The average rate across the whole of the UK was £32.68 which is a whopping £9.01 rise in 2020s UK average rate of £23.67.
In Northern Ireland, it’s £21.95 which is a £3.17 rise on 2020s rate of £18.78 per hour.
In Scotland, the average rate has risen from £20.08 to £44.89 which is a massive £24.81 difference.
In Wales, the average hourly rate has risen to £28.72 from a 2020 average of £22.65 which is a rise of £6.07.
In England, the average hourly rate in 2021 was £32.88 which is a rise of £12.86 on 2020's average of £20.02.
As you can see from the regional breakdown, there has been a rapid rise in average hourly rare across the UK, with the largest rise coming in Scotland.
Download the full report and find out the average rate in your region/city 👇