Why do I need insurance?

Conflicts for pharmacists in practice

These can emerge at any time. The sources of conflict can be many and varied and many examples exist of how and when they can occur. Understanding the potential conflicts faced by pharmacists and the implications that they can have has already led many thousands of individual pharmacists to take out their own independent insurance protection. Many pharmacists have also come to realise that their employer's insurance may well represent their employer's interests, but may leave them individually exposed. Whether you are facing a requirement to pay a significant sum in compensation, a criminal record and sentencing, a striking off from the Register of Chemists or a blatantly unfair internal disciplinary proceeding taken against you, these are all developments that would have a catastrophic effect on the life of any pharmacist.

Need for independent protection

Stressing the need to take immediate legal recourse is stating the obvious, but in many situations, lack of experience and the prohibitive cost of legal fees mean that few pharmacists take vigorous legal action when it is needed most – at the very start of any investigation. Most of the successful cases handled by PDA were successful because the pharmacists were extricated from the problem early on and never ended up facing the worst consequences.

Peace of mind

In a recent case, the PDA supported a pharmacist who was being prosecuted. The legal fees spent in his successful defence came to almost £70,000. This is one of the many reasons why you need insurance. The sheer cost of legal fees that can provide the necessarily prompt and robust defence, coupled with the potential cost of any compensation, means that insurance represents the only realistic way that such an expense can be met. Most importantly of all, adequate insurance provides that much needed ‘peace of mind' which allows you to practice safe in the knowledge that, should something go wrong, you have your own independent protection to call on if it ever becomes necessary to do so.