Dealing With Complaints And Claims

Preventing claims developing

Your handling of the situation will be very important in determining what happens next. We know from experience that the actions taken immediately by pharmacists when faced with a complaint have determined whether an error proceeds to formal action taken by the injured party or not. You may be surprised to learn that patients instigate a significant number of civil cases and other formal proceedings purely because they are dissatisfied with the initial handling of their complaint by the pharmacist. PDA staff, experienced in these matters, will advise you on what to do next as soon as you become aware that an error has been made.

What to do if you become aware that a formal complaint is being made

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an error that leads to a formal complaint or other proceeding being made against you, it is vital that you make sure that your insurance will provide you with full protection. In many instances, your employer will want to follow up any incidents that have resulted in a complaint and handle the matter centrally, and this is fine in some, but not in all cases. The whole purpose of your PDA membership is to ensure that your reputation and your personal interests do not suffer in the process. Only a close watching brief of the situation will enable us to assess whether your interests are at risk, whether the PDA needs to get actively involved and, if so, then at what stage.

Prompt notification

It is for this reason that it is very important that you notify the PDA as soon as you have reason to suspect that a complaint could be made. Only through prompt notification are we able to make an immediate assessment of the situation and provide you with prompt advice and guidance on what to do next.

In-house claims service

If the complaint proceeds, our in-house claims service will take up matters on your behalf. We co-ordinate your case centrally, giving you one point of contact. If needs be, we then instruct the technical, medical and legal experts from our Advisory Board who are most relevant to your particular case.

Our aim is to ensure that your reputation and your personal interests do not suffer in the process.