NHS Pharmacists’ Newsletter – April 2025

The PDA General Practice Pharmacists (GPP) Network’s first meeting of 2025 took place in early January and was titled ‘The Mechanics of a Pay Rise’.GPPs often misconceive that they are paid under Agenda for Change (AfC) Terms and Conditions. However, whilst providing services for the NHS, they are not employed directly by the NHS and so are not guaranteed these terms and conditions. In fact, there is no legal entitlement to an annual pay rise, although occasionally primary care employment contracts will include a clause to negotiate one periodically.

Often in the sector, Primary Care Network (PCN) employers pledge to ‘mirror AfC’, and those pharmacists employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) are entitled to AfC pay rises. Those not employed via PCNs, but by an individual GP practice, should still be awarded a pay rise according to what has been recommended for doctors and dentists, and the staff they employ via the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB). The Pay Review Bodies make recommendations to the government each year following the collation of evidence and the government then decides whether to accept or reject the recommendations.

Any pay increase should be backdated to the start of the financial year, but there is a considerable lag in England and even more so in the devolved nations.

Discussion on the night centred around how to best request a pay rise, and how to do this without presenting as challenging, but reasonable. Members were advised that working together with other pharmacy colleagues, as a collective, puts pharmacists in the best possible stead to negotiate a pay rise, rather than trying to do this individually.

The next GPP Network session was held on 2 April 2025 and was delivered by PDA Education which focused on how to be more assertive. Recently, members in the sector have also raised concerns about the instability of 12-month fixed-term contracts. GPP members are looking for greater stability and long-term contracts, but there is a need to fix the funding system that causes this problem.

If you are a PDA member and want to join the PDA GPP Network WhatsApp group, please email [email protected].

On Thursday 13 March, the government informed the chief executives of the 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) that they would be expected to make 50% cuts by quarter 3 of 2025.For many of our members who work in ICBs this came as a huge shock as they have already been through two years of restructuring, which was unsettling, although there were few job losses on that occasion.

At present, there is very little detail available from the government on how this will be achieved. Chief executives have been told that the cuts apply to both programme and running costs, as opposed to the previous cuts, which applied to running costs only.

The PDA will continue to support members who are impacted by these cuts. If you have any concerns, please contact Liz Larkin, PDA Organiser, by emailing[email protected] if you wish to discuss this further or arrange a members’ meeting in your workplace.

In September 2024, our Integrated Care Board (ICB) consulted on the restructuring of the Medicines Optimisation Team. This was the third phase of a whole ICB restructure process, where our colleagues working in our Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service had already been made redundant in the first phase. As most of our team were PDA members, we invited the PDA to support us in this consultation process.

Initially, our ICB was hesitant to work with the PDA, but Liz and the team were brilliant in communicating with our HR department and the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and gaining a seat at the discussion table. The PDA made a big difference in how we were communicated with, what information was shared, and how this was presented to us. The PDA Representatives were on hand to advise us on our individual matters and queries, as well as supporting us as a team. This helped us to give constructive feedback and put our thoughts and suggestions forward to shape our new team structure and its functions.

The presence of the PDA Representative helped us to take the emotions out of the situation and improved the communication between our team and the SRO and executive leadership team. The advice and support from the PDA helped us to change the outcome of the consultation and the team structure to one that was acceptable for our team. We all felt supported and understood our employment rights and responsibilities better. The PDA involvement improved the outcome, the process and generally how the team felt during the consultation. I highly recommend that colleagues join the PDA Union. Thank you again for all your help and support!

Two years ago, I embarked on the journey of PDA Union recognition at my NHS trust for the first time. Despite my years of involvement with the PDA Union as National Executive Committee (NEC) member and PDA Treasurer, approaching a senior trust manager with this request was undeniably nerve-wracking. The common perception that union representatives are troublemakers, often facing adverse treatment, weighed heavily on my mind when I was preparing to raise my head above the parapet, so to speak.

To my pleasant surprise, I received a warm welcome from both the head of HR and the Chair of the local staff side committee. Soon, I found myself in my first meeting, surrounded by senior staff and a small delegation of staff representatives. These meetings, far from being adversarial, reflected two sides working towards a common goal, improving staff conditions. Priorities in the room may differ, but I guarantee no reasonable manager wants unhappy employees.

Over the course of my tenure, my fellow union representatives and I made some significant gains for our members and the wider workforce. On behalf of pharmacy, I spearheaded an overhaul of the on-call payments system, which had remained unchanged for seven years and was misaligned with Agenda for Change principles. Working closely with trust management, I presented various options, considering the financial impact on both the trust and affected staff. Although I changed jobs just before the changes were implemented, I take pride in the fact my ex-colleagues will now benefit from a fair and robust payment system that recognises their value more appropriately.

Now, just a month into my role at a new hospital trust, I’ve already submitted a recognition request. Securing official recognition is crucial, especially given our recent achievement of becoming part of the national NHS Staff Council structures. By collaborating with trade union colleagues and employers, we can enhance conditions for staff and, by extension, our patients.

To those reading this, I urge you to take that first step and become a workplace representative. Make pharmacists’ voices heard. While there’s ample support and training available, someone needs to initiate the process. Be that person.

Those who wish can become a PDA Workplace Rephere or they can also get involved with their Regional Committeehere.

The PDA also has four Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Networks available for members to join. All networks welcome allies and PDA Student and PDA Trainee members can join for FREE. More information can be foundhere.

We encourage you to forward this newsletter to colleagues who you feel may find it interesting and if they are not yet members of the PDA and wish to join they can do sohere.