GP federations in Northern Ireland have recognised a pay discrepancy between clinical staff employed by hospital trusts and pharmacists employed by the federations.

And both the GP federations and the Pharmacists' Defence Association Union (PDAU) have been seeking additional funding to align pharmacist salaries with Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts.

This comes in a joint letter to pharmacists issued by the GP federations and PDAU on 20 March 2025, which has been seen by The Pharmacist.

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Federations and PDAU seeking more funding to align salaries with AfC

The majority of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) that work in GP federations are employed by NHS trusts on AfC pay scales.

But The Pharmacist understands that pharmacists are employed by the GP federations with funding from the Department of Health's Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG), on contracts that mirror AfC in some ways but not others.

The letter noted that 'GP Federation-employed pharmacists, along with Federation employed MDT colleagues have terms and conditions that mirror Agenda for Change, e.g. annual leave allowance, occupational maternity pay, occupational sick pay etc'.

'However, it is recognised the current General Practice Pharmacist (GPP) salary points do not fully align with Band 7 on the Agenda for Change salary scales.

'Both [GP Federations] NI and PDAU have an ongoing commitment to ensuring fair and sustainable remuneration for GPPs working within Federations and have been actively engaging with the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) to seek additional funding to fully align GPP salaries to mirror AfC Band 7,' the letter added.

NI GP Pharmacists get 5.5% uplift as pay negotiations continue

In the letter, the bodies also announced that pharmacists employed by GP Federations in Northern Ireland have been awarded a 5.5% pay increase for 2024/25, backdated to 1 April 2024.

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But negotiations for the 2024/25 financial year will continue, with the Pharmacists' Defence Association Union (PDAU) calling for pharmacists to get a 6% uplift in line with the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) increase.

Speaking to The Pharmacist today, PDAU rep Una O'Farrell suggested this was the first time the GP federations had explicitly recognised that pharmacists were not on a banded system, and should be.

She highlighted examples of federation-employed pharmacists running autonomous prescribing clinics who could be paid nearly £10,000 less per annum than other members of the MDT in similar positions.

Pharmacists 'feel this massive disparity, between them and their counterparts, who they're working shoulder to shoulder with to see patients', she said.

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'The pharmacist is a respected member and a valued member of the team. Everybody assumes that they're on a pay grade that reflects that. And it's quite embarrassing for them [that they're not],' she added.

'We want to get them aligned to Agenda for Change - not just in words, but in actions... truly aligned with Agenda for Change to include banding, progression, uplift, the works,' Ms O'Farrell said.