PHARMACIST vaccinators who have seen their pay cut and shifts "cancelled without notice" are demanding to know why they are being treated differently than dentists, optometrists and GPs.
Locum pharmacists began receiving emails from the NHS earlier this month telling them that they would no longer be paid at their previous rate of £231 per 3.5-hour shift, and were instead being switched onto Band 5 remuneration of around £15 per hour.
This would see them paid the same as nurse vaccinators, while other 'independent contractor' vaccinators - such as dentists and optometrists - are continuing to receive the £66-an-hour rate.
READ MORE: NHS bosses told to offer vaccinators shifts 'on same basis'
Trade union, the PDA, is holding talks with the Scottish Government over the move, which it warns could amount to a breach of contract by health boards running the Covid immunisation programme.
Paul Day, director of the PDA, said: "Our members have raised concerns about this situation, both in how decisions have been made and how they have been communicated.
"Locum pharmacists are concerned that they will now be treated differently to their locum optometrist, GP and dentist peers and say they have not had the reasons behind this change adequately communicated to them.
"We have raised our members’ concerns with the Scottish Government and will continue to do so until this is resolved."
Mr Day said some members had seen weeks' worth of shifts "unilaterally cancelled" by health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
He said: "Pharmacists will have turned down other work to support this service and may not now be able to recoup their losses.”
He added that the anger could see some quit the rollout altogether, and questioned why the action was being taken at a time when some health boards were struggling to fill shifts.
An urgent email appeal to staff from NHS Lothian on March 16 said it had "a large number of vacant shifts on all five vaccinator sites".
The latest row comes after nurses, some of whom had returned from retirement, complained they had been left feeling "hacked off" and undervalued when they discovered that independent contractor colleagues were being paid nearly five times as much.
READ MORE: Why is our vaccine success story being tarnished by a pay muddle?
As the Herald previously revealed, the discrepancy arose out of a misunderstanding around the term 'independent contractor'.
The £231 per session rate was originally agreed by the Scottish Government as a payment to independent enterprises such as pharmacies - who contract their services to the NHS - to compensate them for giving up a member of their team to work part-time at vaccination hubs.
The rate was never intended to be paid on an individual basis to locums who have no overheads or business costs.
However, the message became confused as vaccinator recruitment was devolved to health boards and locum pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, and GPs began being hired as 'independent contractors' on £231 per session.
The Scottish Government has now intervened to correct the arrangement after community pharmacy owners complained of staff shortages as locum pharmacists cancelled shifts to work as vaccinators instead.
Locum dentists, GPs, and optometrists are continuing to receive the higher rate, however.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “All staff employed to work on the programme are paid in accordance with nationally set terms and conditions and are working to agreed job roles, which come with specified rates of pay. We value the contribution of everyone who has offered their services.
“Sessional rates for community pharmacy contractors, negotiated in consultation with Community Pharmacy Scotland, are set out in guidance issued in November 2020.”
Meanwhile, concerns are also emerging over plans in some areas to replace Band 5 nurses with less experienced staff at vaccination hubs.
READ MORE: Anger over HR email warning to vaccinators amid pay row
One nurse team leader in the Greater Glasgow region said some of her colleagues were unhappy that they are having to take patient consent on behalf of more junior employees, such as trainee dental nurses and healthcare support workers, who are not allowed to do so.
"I've spoken to nurses who are now not doing shifts over in Lanarkshire because they feel this is unsafe," said the nurse, who asked not to be named.
"Our registration is on the line. If something was to happen, it's not the Band 3 who'll be in trouble - it'll be the Band 5."
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is currently recruiting healthcare support workers to fill vaccinator posts so that nurses can be redeployed back to hospitals.
The nurse said this could end up backfiring.
She said: "A lot of these nurses doing the vaccination clinics are retired.
"Some of us have been in the community so long, we don't know how a hospital ward is run - it's completely changed.
"By trying to force nurses into the acute side, they'll just make them leave.
"So they'll end up with no nurses out at these community sessions and just independent contractors with the Band 3's. Who's going to take responsibility then?"
A spokeswoman for NHS GGC said: "We want to thank all of our staff who have stepped up as vaccinators and allowed us to provide hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 vaccines in just a few months.
"We are developing a sustainable workforce plan for our Covid-19 vaccination programme. This includes developing the role of a healthcare support worker to work alongside our registered professionals.
"This is currently being discussed with our partners and will be developed in conjunction with staff. This model is being used by other health boards in Scotland."
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