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Locum pharmacists have threatened legal action against the pharmacy chain Allcures, which has over 40 branches across England, after alleging the company failed to pay them for shifts.

One locum told Independent Community Pharmacist they worked two shifts at a branch of Allcures, one in March and one in May, and are still awaiting payment for the first one. The locum said they were supposed to be paid for the March shift on April 14 but received no money and no reason from Allcures why payment was not made.

The locum, who said payment for their May shift is due on June 16, insisted they have drafted a complaint to the General Pharmaceutical Council and intend to take Allcures to court. The GPhC does not comment on individual cases.

ICP understands the Pharmacists’ Defence Association is helping the locum with their case and other locums who allege they have not been paid by Allcures. The PDA said it was “not able to comment at this time”.

Another locum, Mohamed Al Khatib, took to X to claim Allcures did not pay him for shifts he worked at its branch in West Green Road, Tottenham, and said he would also take legal action.

“It seems impossible to get paid even after many emails and WhatsApp messages,” he posted. A third locum, Ola Labib, said she too has not been paid and claimed Allcures were “ignoring” her emails and phone calls.

In a review on Trustpilot posted on May 31 this year, a fourth locum, Ruth Eyin, said Allcures had not paid her for over two months for working three shifts and said its head office in South Ockendon was “unhelpful” when she contacted them with her concerns.

Allcures director – I greatly value our locum community

Kirandeep Cheema, a director at Allcures Plc, told ICP that Ms Labib had mistakenly invoiced them as they had sold the branch where she worked and it was under new ownership. “The branch is not an Allcures branch. She is misinformed,” he said.

Cheema said he was “urgently” looking into the other cases and urged the locum who wanted to remain anonymous to get in touch with him so he can “look into the matter personally and get to the bottom of it as soon as possible”.

We do our best to ensure all payments go through without a hitch

Insisting Allcures has not been contacted “by any solicitors in relation to any alleged claim”, Cheema said: “We are a family business and we engage a large number of locums. I greatly value our locum community.

“(Locums) are a big part of our community of pharmacies and we do our best to ensure all payments go through without a hitch.”