Locum pharmacy employment platform Locate a Locum has uncovered the average pay rate for locum pharmacists around the UK is £22.05 per hour.

The research took into account over 30,000 shifts over 69 of the UK’s cities, and found that Canterbury had the highest pay rate for locum pharmacists at £25.83 per hour. Canterbury was followed by Aberdeen and St Davids (£24.44 and £24.31, respectively).

The lowest averages came from Northern Ireland, Armagh the lowest of these. It had an average of £15.25 per hour, while Bangor was the best place to work in this region with an average of £17.07.

Surprisingly, London rates fell well below the average for the UK, at £18.07 per hour. The platform say this is due to an oversupply of locum pharmacists, keeping competition high and pay rates low, and is a concerning statistic for those living and working in the 24th most expensive city in the world. 

CEO Jonathon Clarke commented: “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.”

Here's the full list of city rates: 

1. Canterbury 25.83
2. Aberdeen 24.44
3. St Davids 24.31
4. Carlisle 24.06
5. Hereford 23.89
6. Truro 23.89
7. Salisbury 23.86
8. Inverness 23.68
9. Oxford 23.61
10. Ripon 23.58
11. Worcester 23.56
12. Wells 23.55
13. Bristol 23.36
14. Norwich 23.36
15. Plymouth 23.33
16. York 23.30
17. Coventry 23.25
18. Preston 23.25
19. Sunderland 23.17
20. Newcastle upon Tyne 23.08
21. Swansea 22.92
22. Newport 22.84
23. Chelmsford 22.73
24. Lancaster 22.72
25. Durham 22.67
26. Cardiff 22.62
27. Winchester 22.60
28. Southampton 22.48
29. Gloucester 22.46
30. Leeds 22.41
31. Portsmouth 22.38
32. Dundee 22.26
33. Stirling 22.23
34. Perth 22.19
35. Bradford 21.85
36. Leicester 21.76
37. Kingston upon Hull 21.73
38. Ely 21.69
39. Nottingham 21.61
40. Lincoln 21.46
41. Edinburgh 21.44
42. Glasgow 21.44
43. Stoke-on-Trent 21.44
44. Wakefield 21.42
45. Cambridge 21.37
46. Peterborough 21.36
47. Liverpool 21.32
48. Birmingham 21.27
49. Chichester 21.25
50. St Asaph 21.19
51. Chester 21.14
52. Sheffield 21.11
53. Exeter 20.90
54. Salford 20.68
55. Wolverhampton 20.57
56. Brighton & Hove 20.50
57. St Albans 19.94
58. Manchester 19.85
59. Bath 19.82
60. Derby 19.81
61. Lichfield 19.00
62. London 18.07
63. City of Westminster 18.04
64. Bangor 17.70
65. Newry 16.59
66. Lisburn 15.68
67. Derry/Londonderry 15.67
68. Belfast 15.57
69. Armagh 15.25