Government plans for 2.5% pay rise for practice pharmacists next year

The government has said it can only afford a pay rise of 2.5% for pharmacists working in general practice and the NHS for the next financial year.

In its submission to the pay review bodies for general practice and NHS staff, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it was managing a ‘wide set of material financial risks’ and that a pay award above 2.5% in 2026/27 would ‘require difficult trade-offs for the government’.

In previous years, pharmacists employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) were supposed to receive a pay rise in line with NHS Pay Review Body recommendations, while pharmacists employed directly by GP practices were covered by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) recommendations.

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For the 2025/26 pay round, funding was given to primary care networks (PCNs) to cover a 3.6% pay uplift for ARRS pharmacists.

Meanwhile, funding was also given to GP practices to support a 4% pay rise for employed practice pharmacists in 2025/26.

In its submissions to both pay review bodies on Thursday, the government said: ‘DHSC have developed financial and delivery plans which currently allow for a pay uplift of 2.5% without having to make trade-offs against headline government health commitments.

‘Should the independent pay review bodies recommend an award above this level, we would need to consider whether and how this could be made affordable from within existing DHSC budgets.’

Accepting an award higher than 2.5% would ‘inevitably have an impact on healthcare delivery’ and would require ‘difficult trade-offs for the government’, added the DHSC.

‘These trade-offs could include reduction in ambitions for service or performance improvement (for example, additional investment in digital and technology to support productivity improvements in future years),’ it said.

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‘As staffing costs are the largest single area of NHS expenditure, it is likely that higher pay awards will affect the ability for the NHS to afford to maintain or expand staffing levels.’

In its recommendations to the DDRB, the government explained that while the DDRB’s recommendations are for salaried GPs, government funding typically given to support GP pay rises is also intended to allow contractors to implement pay rises for other salaried general practice staff, which includes practice pharmacists.

‘Recommendations will need to be informed by affordability and the contract resources available to practices,’ the DHSC told the DDRB.

‘This information will also inform GP practice decisions about the pay of their salaried GPs and other practice staff.’

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A white paper launched by our publisher Cogora in September suggested GP practices should be given ‘ringfenced’ and direct funding to employ pharmacists and other general practice staff.

The major report called on the government to consider ‘central funding’ of all general practice staff, including pharmacists, as part of the next GP contract.