Armagh was found to be the lowest paying area in the whole of the UK for locum pharmacists at just £15.25 per hour.
The finding came from a study conducted by the locum pharmacy employment platform Locate a Locum.
It took into account over 30,000 shifts over 69 of the UK’s cities.
It found the average pay rate to be £22.05.
Canterbury topped the list on £25.83 an hour, with Aberdeen second on £24.44 and St David’s third on £24.31.
Northern Ireland’s five cities came in bottom of the pile with Armagh City – £15.25 – the lowest of the lot.
Second last was Belfast, on £15.57, while Derry/Londonderry was £15.67.
Locum pharmacists in Lisburn were in fourth, just a penny more, on £15.68, while Newry had the highest average in Northern Ireland – but the fifth lowest in the whole of the UK – on £16.59.
Bangor – while not a city – was the best place to work in Northern Ireland with an average of £17.07.
Surprisingly, London rates also fell well below the average for the UK, at £18.07 per hour, which is being attributed to an oversupply of locum pharmacists, keeping competition high and pay rates low, something viewed as a concerning statistic for those living and working in the 24th most expensive city in the world!
Locums everywhere, however, should find the data of interest for deciding which jobs they decide that they would like to sign up for.
Locate a Locum chief executive Jonathon Clarke said: “Negotiating shifts and payments is part of your everyday work life as a locum, so this sort of information is highly valuable to those in the industry.
“It’s important that we’re not selling ourselves short, whilst maintaining a sense of realism.
“We hope this information might help other locums make better decisions for themselves.”
