John Murphy has been awarded the prestigious PDA Union Gold Pin for his service to pharmacists.
John Murphy spent his early career with Boots, from pre-reg to Senior Manager. This involved acting as a practising pharmacist and a variety of field, store operations, and head office roles. As Head of Training and Development, under his stewardship Boots became the first Blue Chip Company to achieve the Investor in People status and won a National Training Award for Management Development.
Leaving Boots in 2001, John supported Mark Koziol in the development, launch, and operation of the PDA from 2003 onwards, becoming its Director and then also the General Secretary of the PDA Union when it was formed in 2008. John retired from his director role at the PDA in 2017 but has stayed on as the General Secretary of the Union on a part-time basis.
The PDA Union has brought trade unionism to a profession which was mainly previously non-unionised and while John has been General Secretary, the PDA now has more than 36,000 members. As such PDA Union has become one of the 25 largest of all trade unions in the United Kingdom, one of the six largest that represents only healthcare professionals, and it continues to grow.
PDA Union, as part of the wider PDA, speaks up for pharmacists, supports them individually and collectively and plays a part in the wider trade union movement through membership of EPhEU, GFTU, ICTU and STUC.
In respect of John’s instrumental role in all the PDA Union has achieved he was presented with the PDA Union Gold Pin as he retired from his role this year.
PDA Chairman, Mark Koziol, presented John with his Gold Pin.
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