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IAM Healthcare and pharmacy labour activists have initiated a new worker empowerment project to help pharmacies unionise over unsafe staffing levels and increasing workloads. The campaign is coined "The Pharmacy Guild" to establish higher standards of practice in pharmacies to protect patients. The union issued a mission statement on Wednesday (8 November) highlighting three major demands and goals. They demanded that "staffing and workload standards should be set up to ensure safe patient care." There should be "representation and collective bargaining for pharmacy professionals in workplaces across the country."

Usdaw, one of the major trade unions in the UK, has sought assurances for its members working in Boots, following reports that the parent company of the iconic health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain is considering putting the business on sale next year. Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA), the US health group that owns a stake in Boots UK since 2012, is reportedly lining up Goldman Sachs to explore the sale of business with potential valuation of £10 billion. Currently, the process is thought to be solely exploratory and may not necessarily convert into the sale of the 172-year-old firm. Usdaw national officer, Daniel Adams, said: "We note that the company declined to comment on speculation, but acknowledged that the group's strategic direction 'includes a more pointed focus on North America and on healthcare'.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for scrapping unfair benefit rules for migrant nursing staff, warning that these policies risk triggering a mass exodus from the UK's healthcare workforce. A recent RCN report indicated that two-thirds of internationally educated nursing staff are considering leaving the UK and returning to their country of training due to the high cost of living. The report, which is based on survey responses from more than 3,000 international nursing staff, also revealed that those from overseas are "twice as likely as domestic colleagues to report being in financial difficulty" and are "almost three times as likely as UK counterparts to withdraw from their pension due to the cost of living." It also highlighted the impact of the 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) rule, which prevents migrants on temporary visas, such as the Health and Care Worker visa, from accessing essential benefits. In response to this report, the union has urged the government to immediately end these restrictive rules and reduce visa fees, including Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) application costs.

Most people in Great Britain believe that new junior doctors, nurses and health care assistants are underpaid, senior doctors and matrons are paid about right, and NHS CEOs are paid too much, according to a new study. About half the people surveyed indicated that newly qualified junior doctors are paid too little, with this sentiment increasing to three in five (60 per cent) among Labour voters. The research conducted by the Policy Institute at King's College London, King's Business School, and Ipsos also showed that more people believe NHS staff overall were badly paid than well paid. Dr Nick Krachler, senior lecturer in Human Resource Management at King's Business School, said: "Our survey shows considerable alignment between public perception of NHS pay levels and the claims of trade unions and professional associations that pay levels - which are determined by government after consultation from a Pay Review Body - ​are unsatisfactory for frontline NHS roles." He highlighted the urgent need to address healthcare workers' economic wellbeing, hoping that the new government will consider it in its upcoming negotiations with junior doctors this week.