The Pharmacists’ Defence Association has said it has recovered more than £100,000 in unpaid locum fees so far this year on behalf of its members.

Insisting it helped locums secure a total of £104,182.47 in fees from pharmacy contractors between January and October, the first time a six-figure sum has been recovered in the first 10 months of a year, the PDA said cases involved the largest multiples to single pharmacy operators.

The most money recovered during one case, the PDA said, was over £8,000. The most it has ever secured for one of its members was more than £18,000 in 2020.

PDA director Paul Day described the amount of money owed by contractors to locums as “shocking.”

“Recovering unpaid fees is a longstanding area of support to pharmacists from the PDA, however even after accounting for inflation and higher locum rates the level of debt owed by contractors to pharmacists this year is shocking,” he said.

“Getting paid for the work you’ve undertaken is a basic right for any worker and these are the legitimate earnings due to these pharmacists.”

Day said the PDA was determined to stand up for its locum members just as it does its employed pharmacist members.

“ Pharmacy owners and the managers they employ need to ensure they pay all pharmacists, whether employees or locums, the full amount agreed for their work,” he said.