Joint Statement – Boots UK and PDAU Joint Consultative Committee
On Monday 18th January 2021, Boots UK and the Pharmacists’ Defence Association Union (PDAU) held their Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) virtually.
This marks the fifth of our regular consultation meetings relating to the agreed items as defined within the recognition agreement, a copy of which can be found – here. The JCC meets once a quarter.
The JCC focuses on matters for consultation on a collective basis and will not discuss matters relating to individuals. The JCC is not a negotiating forum, anything for negotiation (matters relating to pay, hours or holidays) are discussed at the Joint Negotiating Body (JNB) which meets annually.
The meeting was chaired by Anne Higgins, Director of Stores Pharmacy and was attended by all Regional and Divisional PDAU representatives along with Paul Moloney, National Officer, Pharmacists’ Defence Association and Helen Lewis, PDAU Reps Network Coordinator in attendance.
There was a positive, two-way conversation with feedback provided through Divisional and Regional Trade Union Representatives. The agenda included two standard items for discussion; health and safety and company-based training along with an update from the interim JCC held in November 2020 and a joint Boots & PDAU partnering reflective session.
The presenters attended:
- Alison RamageA, Head of HR – Pharmacy presented the action planning ideas from the Pharmacy Colleague Survey and provided an update to the vaccinations service the company is providing to help vaccinate patients in local communities alongside the NHS.
- Asif Aziz, Director of Stores-Boots Travel/Programme Director Covid Testing provided insights into the company’s Covid19 testing programme.
- Richard Dunne, Senior Manager, Pharmacy Learning and Development, provided an update on Continuing Professional Development including Independent Prescribing and the Development Fund. Following Richard’s update, a breakout reflective session was facilitated in relation to Independent Prescribing and how
Pharmacists can access support. - Bonnie Eyre, Senior Employee Relations Manager & Paul Moloney, National Officer, Pharmacists’ Defence Association presented a joint and collaborative partnering session together.
- Bonnie explained the context behind the Recognition and Procedural Agreement
and provided an outline of communication and feedback channels for both
parties. Bonnie facilitated a breakout reflective session, and this focused on
discussions on how to identify ways to get the most benefit out of the JCC forum. - Paul presented a brief history into industrial relations and highlighted elements
that structure a successful partnership. Paul lead a breakout reflective session
which looked to identify ways to improve how the Company and the PDAU work
together in Partnership. - Pat Lakin, Colleague Health Manager, shared an overview of the plans to support Wellbeing for colleagues in the coming months and a reminder of the support available to colleagues. Please click to access Wellbeing resources. This followed outputs from the colleague survey, including an overview of Lifeworks, our employee assistance programme and the upcoming Time to Talk Day.
- Bonnie explained the context behind the Recognition and Procedural Agreement
- Ray Humphrey, Senior Safety & Governance Manager, provided insights into the Pharmacy accident performance, Incidents of note, needle stick injuries, the Covid risk assessment update and safety inspections.
- Rachel Polson, Project Manager, Operations Development provided an update to the MYHub portal.
- Iona Blake, Security & Incident Manager gave an overview of security incidents, an update on Keeping Yourself Safe Campaign, an update on the expansion of the CCTV monitoring centre, learnings from the Safer City campaign in Birmingham and a Home office campaign partnership
All the PDAU representatives had chance to contribute and feedback throughout the meeting either by raising questions directly with the presenters or sharing ideas for discussion via the breakout reflective sessions. There was lots of constructive and positive feedback and actions to take forward which will help both parties work collaboratively to continue to build a successful partnership.
An overview of the minutes and key actions are available here. The next JCC meeting is scheduled to take place on 20th April 2021. We will provide regular updates on the progress of actions. For previous meeting minutes click here or for updates on actions to date click here.
Anne Higgins, Director of Stores Pharmacy– Boots UK
John Lester, Lead PDA Representative for the JCC
NB: The links within the statement above are deliberately inactive. Boots pharmacists can access the links and documents referred to above, via the internal Boots live platform where this statement is also published.
Download the statement here:
