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Home  »   LloydsPharmacyLatest News   »   LloydsPharmacy Newsletter – January 2022

LloydsPharmacy Newsletter – January 2022

Keeping you informed of all the PDA Union activities within LloydsPharmacy

Thu 20th January 2022 The PDA

In this issue:

  • A Warm Welcome
  • Recent Member Meetings
  • Looop is Live!
  • Pay Negotiations
  • Workplace Pressures
  • Trainee Pharmacist Interactive Meeting
  • Ongoing TUPE Effects
  • Support Staffing Levels
  • Vacancies

A Warm Welcome

In our first LloydsPharmacy newsletter of 2022, we share with you the work the PDA Reps Network in Lloyds have been doing on your behalf, the concerns members have been sharing with us, and other information relevant to you as PDA members and LloydsPharmacy employees.

We also want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all members who completed our recent HSE Stress & Wellbeing Survey and our Pay Survey. Results from both surveys are being used to inform union activity taking place on your behalf, and we will keep you updated as this work progresses.

You can find out about your PDA Reps Network in Lloyds here and, as always, please contact us if you have any concerns or issues you would like to discuss.

Recent Member Meetings

The PDA Reps Network in Lloyds held a series of interactive member meetings over 3 evenings in December 2021. We are pleased to say, we had a very positive turnout from our members. As the recognised trade union in LloydsPharmacy, PDA Reps hold these meetings to give members an opportunity to talk about issues important to them. We encourage our members to continue to contact their PDA Reps for support, guidance, and advice. Please check out our union page on Looop for further information, including how to contact your PDA Reps.

 

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Looop is Live!

By Brian Henderson, PDA National Representative for Scotland
 

As part of the recognition agreement between the PDA and LloydsPharmacy there was the express intention that Lloyds would provide a presence for the union on the internal communication platform called Looop.

In the autumn of 2021, we started building this resource with the help of Lloyds HR and IT colleagues. We are pleased to be able to share with you that this workspace is now live and accessible to all Lloyds pharmacists.

The initial aim of this space is to introduce the PDA Reps Network in Lloyds to the wider company, to bring PDA and LloydsPharmacy joint statements together in one place, and to share other information relevant to the Bargaining Unit. We are critically aware that we have a duty to inform not only PDA members but also the wider Bargaining Unit of how this new relationship works, including how the PDA-Lloyds relationship affects individual pharmacist employees. An example of this is the role the union plays in annual pay negotiations. It is our responsibility to ensure that pharmacists in Lloyds understand these processes.

We ask that you take the time to visit these pages on Looop and encourage all your colleagues to do so too!

Pay Negotiations

We recently submitted the first-ever claim for improvements to terms and conditions on behalf of pharmacists employed by LloydsPharmacy. We expect our first meeting with the company to take place before the end of January 2022 and will keep all affected pharmacists updated as we progress. You can read more about the claim here.

 

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Workplace Pressures

By Jahn Dad Khan, PDA National Representative for North West England
 

After speaking to members and colleagues, the consensus appears to be that there are increasing workplace pressures being placed on LloydsPharmacy pharmacists. Members are telling us that they feel that head office and line managers are setting unrealistic targets without any regard for capacity or staffing levels. Whilst we recognise that there is a need for performance management, targets need to be set rationally.  

A further contributor to workplace pressure is inadequate IT such as the new LS Retail dispensary system which members find difficult when performing even basic functions. New services are seemingly launched randomly and usually at a time when pharmacists are struggling to meet the demands of existing services.

External influences are also affecting our workload, notably exponential demands made by patients/customers and having to make up for the shortfalls created by the lack of GP appointments and hospital capacity. These external pressures can be attributed to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but this is not the only factor. Such pressures are affecting both the retention and the recruitment of pharmacists and support staff within Lloyds.

As your PDA Reps, we will continue to push to find practical solutions which improve your working lives, but we ask you to speak to your pharmacist colleagues and encourage them to join the PDA if they have not done so already as we are stronger together.

Trainee Pharmacist Interactive Meeting

By Anjlee Shah, PDA National Representative for South East England
 

The PDA Reps Network in Lloyds held an interactive meeting for LloydsPharmacy trainee pharmacists in October 2021.

It was wonderful to welcome our trainee pharmacists to Lloyds and understand what their priorities are in this important year. We wanted to understand what they felt would make Lloyds the ideal training environment, along with their thoughts on what would keep them here as future pharmacists.

Prominent concerns included intense work pressures and the impact on the training year and well-being. One member stated, “The flu season is hectic especially combined with backlogs because of LS Pharmacy. Hence, I’m finding it difficult to learn.”

Another member stated, “I feel like an extra set of hands to offload pressure.” 

Trainee pharmacists also feel understaffed in branch and have concerns with Lloyds retaining their pharmacists and staff. They feel this lack of retention discourages them from staying on with the company post-registration.

There were also questions on life after being qualified as a pharmacist. Trainees were interested in development opportunities as pharmacists of the future and how they will be supported by the company.

We encourage all our members to contact PDA Reps for support, guidance, and advice. Please see below for more information on trainee pharmacist membership.

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Ongoing TUPE Effects

By Eddie Njenga, PDA Regional Representative for South East England
 

The PDA is very much active on the effect of the so-called ‘consultations on our working terms and conditions’. This specifically affects the ex-Sainsbury’s colleagues who are working under TUPE terms set out in 2016. We continue to take note of your concerns and are working to ensure that the new terms do not adversely affect you or cause a negative impact. 

Please continue to inform your PDA Reps if ever you feel that you may be placed at a disadvantage.

Support Staffing Levels

By Jahn Dad Khan, PDA National Representative for North West England
 

Within LloydsPharmacy, we have seen annual reductions in branch staffing levels at a time when targets and demands for our services have been increasing. The number of new services being imposed on us has been increasing year on year, yet staffing levels have been decreasing every year. There is a recruitment and retention crisis in all community pharmacies which feels severe in Lloyds.

Support staff recruitment and retention is a problem, with the PDA Reps Network in Lloyds hearing that they see better working conditions, better pay and more structured careers in other sectors e.g. retail. As pharmacist roles expand and more duties are delegated to support staff, Lloyds should be ensuring that all staff are rewarded adequately for their responsibilities. Support staff issues impact on pharmacist retention and recruitment as if there are less support staff then the pharmacist must do more.

This is a problem which needs addressing urgently. Please ensure that you continue to share your concerns with your PDA Reps and encourage your support staff colleagues to join in with the employers listening groups so that they are hearing concerns first-hand.

Vacancies

Our PDA Reps Network in Lloyds is going from strength to strength but, due to team changes, we do have the following vacancies:

  • PDA National Representative for Wales
  • 2x PDA Regional Representatives for Northern England

You can find out more about the roles here.

If you’d like more information on joining the PDA Reps Network in Lloyds, please email
clare.hirst@pda-union.org.

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In case you missed it!

Below are recently published PDA news items relating to LloydsPharmacy:

 

 

 

 

 

The Pharmacists' Defence Association is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England; Company No 4746656.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association is an appointed representative in respect of insurance mediation activities only of
The Pharmacy Insurance Agency Limited which is registered in England and Wales under company number 2591975
and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Register No 307063)

The PDA Union is recognised by the Certification Officer as an independent trade union.

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