Advice Centre

Reactive Advice

If you have an immediate problem and need advice, or possibly even a potential incident or claim on your hands, then you can request this support in several ways:

• Read the guidance that we have provided for a variety of emergency situations
• Email the PDA with details of non urgent problems and we will provide a response within 3 working days

Alternatively, in the most urgent of situations, call the PDA on 0121 694 7017. You will have access to lawyers for general legal advice on a 24-hour basis and access to experienced PDA pharmacists during office hours for more specific pharmacy-related issues.

Proactive Advice

An extensive archive of Articles, Research Papers, Case Studies, Questions and Answers and a database of examples of the types of errors that occur, are available to enable you to research issues of interest and concern and to assist in your practice and in your CPD. If you have a question that does not already appear in the Q&A section then you can email your specific question to us. You will usually receive an answer within one working day and your question and its answer (suitably anonymised) will be added to the Q&A archive section for the benefit of other members.

Advice Centre Topics

The Archives are divided into four main areas and are constantly updated. As a member you will have access to them, just click the links below:

• Employment Issues

  It is often difficult for pharmacists to be able to judge what to expect from their employer by way of an acceptable standard of behaviour and also what should be reasonably expected of them as individual pharmacists. Some of these issues can be even more confusing for self employed locums. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of important issues that need to be considered. You can access this part of the Archive by clicking the Employment Issues link above
   

• Legal, Ethical & Professional Issues

  All pharmacists, irrespective of which area of work engaged in are working in an environment which is increasingly regulated and therefore it is an environment calling for more responsibility and accountability to be taken by the individual. The rules, regulations and codes of practice are constantly changing - little wonder that at times it can be difficult to keep up. You can access this part of the Archive by clicking the Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues link above.
   

• Risk Management Issues

  Risk Management is what happens when an error that occurs or is anticipated is studied, its causes are identified and changes in the system are made to reduce or eliminate the chances of the error occurring in the future. Risk Management is important because it can help you prevent errors and in so doing it will reduce harm to patients thus providing a safer patient care experience. You can access this part of the archive by clicking the Risk Management link above.
   

• Common Errors dealt with by the PDA

  To assist you with your personal risk management strategies, we are publishing anonymised data about the incidents in which our members have been involved. You will find summaries of some incidents grouped by category. By allowing you to browse them we hope they will enable you to implement strategies in your own working practices that will minimise your own exposure to risk. (Members Only)