PDA dealt with 4000 cases last year in all categories of incidents; compensation claims to patients for dispensing errors, criminal prosecutions, employment disputes and most notably from my point of view disputes with the regulator (the General Pharmaceutical Council – or GPhC). Student Fitness to Practice cases which are brought against pharmacy undergraduates by the University are on the rise too and PDA advisors, when asked to be involved by the student, provide advice to the student and appear alongside him/her before the committees to represent them. It is essential that if this ever happens to you that you are a member of the PDA because these representatives really know what they are doing and from listening to them in these meetings I know that I would want them on my side if I got into any such trouble with the School of Pharmacy.
It is important to stress however that although the PDA provide essential support and defence, it is better to avoid unprofessional practices in the first place. It is paramount to the profession that pharmacy students act as professionals at all times, whether in the environs of the University or whether you are on a night out with friends – the fitness to practice committees do not differentiate.
Employment laws are changing – for the worse – the current government are eroding the rights of employees under the cover of being ‘business friendly’. One of the most significant changes is that the qualifying period before an employee can bring a claim against their employer for unfair dismissal has been extended from one year to two; the exception to the rule is for discrimination. An employee can bring a claim for discrimination no matter how short a time they have been employed. In fact the PDA has recently won a claim for a pre-reg who was victimised in this manner.
You may not be aware of the current case with Boots and the PDA; they are challenging the company over reducing pharmacists pay on Sundays and have made an application to the Employment Tribunal (ET) to rule on the matter. The PDA has also applied for formal recognition to represent all pharmacists and pre-reg working for the company. It’s a very complicated issue and more information is available on the PDA Union website www.pda-union.org but Boots is refusing to recognise the PDA under union legislation and are claiming that there is a union already which is a pharmacist’s staff association (where were they when the company started to reduce Sunday premium payments?) which has much fewer members than PDA. Now that Boots have refused, PDA will legally challenge their position – so watch this space!
Employment law isn’t something that is taught on the MPharm degree but it is essential that students understand their rights when working in summer at pharmacies. Another reason why joining the PDA is so important!
On an exciting note, the PDA road map is the vision of what it believes the future of pharmacy should be. It proposes some really practical steps as to how pharmacists, in having a more clinical role, can make such a massive contribution to health care both economically and in terms of the health outcomes for patients.. The PDA wants the profession to get behind the idea and is encouraging the RPS to launch a professional debate on the future of pharmacy practice. This is promising as the more people that are behind these plans, the more successful it will be. It is essential that a student become involved with the PDA as it is has the vision to push the profession forward.
The next executive meeting and Annual General Meeting is on the 28th June 2012, if you have any queries you would like to be answered or brought up then don’t hesitate to contact the membership group (via the web site) and we will be able to do our best to get your query answered or discussed.