Pharmacies in Wales will receive a bonus payment next month of up to £500 from the Welsh government for the work they have done during the pandemic.

Around 222,000 people across the NHS and social care will get the money, with £735 being paid per person and most receiving £500 after tax and national insurance deductions.

Hailing the work of staff during the pandemic as “truly remarkable,” the health minister Vaughan Gething said: “You've helped save lives and you've helped keep people safe in some of the most difficult and challenging circumstances.”

He added: “In recognition of this enormous effort, we will be providing all NHS and social care staff with a special bonus payment. More than 220,000 people working across our NHS and social care will receive the payment in their pay packet starting next month and we will cover the basic rate of tax and national insurance contributions.”

However political figures in Wales greeted the bonus with mixed feelings. Janet Finch-Saunders from the Welsh Conservatives said there needed to be "longer-term pay recognition" for health and social care staff while Plaid Cymru Senedd member Delyth Jewell said “the wider conversation we should be having is about the fact that there is this huge disparity between what health workers and what care workers receive.”