The Department of Health and HSE have issued circulars confirming the implementation of a revised pay scale and revised management posts for hospital pharmacists, agreed with Fórsa and the HPAI following the Building Momentum review last year.

The circular activates the recommendations contained in the 2017 McLoughlin Report and subsequent negotiations. It confirms improvements to the basic grade pharmacist salary scale, while increment dates remains unchanged.

The new pay scale sees the removal of the first three points of the existing scale and will result in an adjustment to salary for most, while the old salary scale will be maintained in the Department of Health consolidated salary scales for pension purposes.

The introduction of the new pharmacy executive services manager post is also confirmed by the circular and takes effect from the same date. Details of how existing postholders will be designated to those posts are also outlined in the circular.

National secretary Linda Kelly said the circular’s confirmation of new scales and agreed management posts marked the conclusion of a lengthy union campaign to ensure the recommendations of the McLoughlin report were activated: “Despite a long drawn-out negotiation, our hospital pharmacist members were determined to achieve what has now been confirmed in this circular.

“A clause in the review of Building Momentum last year provided the necessary negotiating opportunity to ensure these measures were introduced, and we were able to confirm the outcome to pharmacist members last November.

“The new HSE circular confirms that all the necessary arrangements are now in place, and I want to acknowledge the great work of our hospital pharmacist representatives throughout this process. It demonstrates, yet again, the real power of trade union membership and collective bargaining.

“Implementation discussions on the remaining recommendations related to the deputy pharmacy executive services manager posts and the creation of advanced specialists posts will now commence,” she said.

The HSE circular is available HERE and a copy of Fórsa’s update to members (16th November 2022) is available HERE.