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NHS pharmacists in England and Wales employed on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts will receive 3.6% pay rises, with pharmacists in Scotland agreeing to a 4.25% rise, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
In an announcement, published on 22 May 2025, the DHSC said that all AfC staff would receive the 3.6% pay increase from August 2025, which will be backdated to April 2025.
In a written statement to Parliament, published on 22 May 2025, health secretary Wes Streeting said that he had accepted the NHS Pay Review Body recommendations for pay awards for 2025/2026 in full.
The statement said: “The pay review bodies have examined the economic picture, and evidence on recruitment, retention, motivation and morale to reach their recommendations.
“Through their deliberations, they have made recommendations above the level we stated as affordable in our evidence. I am however accepting their headline pay recommendations as fair and well-evidenced uplifts for public servants.”
The NHS Staff Council had been given a mandate “to begin to resolve outstanding concerns within the AfC pay structure”, which would be implemented from April 2026, according to the statement.
In a written statement, also published on 22 May 2025, Jeremy Miles, Welsh cabinet secretary for health and social care, announced that he had accepted recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body and would therefore be “uplifting all pay points for AfC staff by 3.6% on a consolidated basis, effective from 1 April 2025.”
“We want to see a fair and proportionate pay uplift across primary care, including community pharmacies, NHS optometry and all staff working in general practice and dental teams”, although these are not within the scope of the NHS Pay Review Body, the statement said.
In Scotland, a two-year pay offer for AfC staff will see pay rises of 4.25% in 2025/2026 and 3.75% in 2026/2027 — backdated to April 2025.
In a statement, published on 16 May 2025, the Scottish government said its pay offer had been accepted by healthcare unions.
Neil Gray, Scottish health secretary, said “I welcome the fact that union members have accepted this pay offer. Delivering a renewed and stronger NHS is a key commitment for us and at the heart of that are our hard-working healthcare staff.
“We want to ensure they feel value and rewarded, and I’m very pleased that they have agreed to accept a strong two-year pay deal. Staff will see the benefit of this pay uplift in their pay packets from next month.”
A spokesperson for the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists said: “The pay award… for AfC staff in England does not go far enough in reversing the below-inflation awards seen in previous years. Alarmingly, the government has also decided to award doctors a higher increase, raising challenging questions about value of work undertaken.”
While in Scotland an offer is made after direct negotiation with unions and can be accepted or rejected, in England and Wales, a pay award is automatically implemented under the pay review body arrangements.
“Members in Scotland voted to accept a more robust, higher offer and it is disappointing that again we see the valuation of work done in one country as higher than that in England and Wales. Pharmacists are encouraged to join a union, update their details where they are members, and think hard about this award in the context of our current sky-high cost of living,” the spokesperson added.
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association is surveying its members to confirm if they are prepared to accept the pay award for the 2025/2026 finanical year or, if they are not, to confirm their attitude to taking industrial action.
