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Home  »   Latest News   »   NHS Pharmacists’ Newsletter – March 2023

NHS Pharmacists’ Newsletter – March 2023

Welcome to the NHS pharmacists' newsletter for PDA members. In this issue learn about the pay offer for those in the NHS employed on Agenda for Change terms and conditions and the PDA's guide on applying for re-banding using the NHS job evaluation scheme.

Wed 22nd March 2023 The PDA

In this issue:

  • NHS Pay Offer – March 2023
  • NHS re-banding event: NHS hospital pharmacists come together
  • Hospital pharmacy: the value of being a PDA Hospital Rep
  • Being a Primary Care Network pharmacist and what the PDA means to me
  • Becoming a PDA Trainee Rep
  • In case you missed it
  • Get involved

NHS Pay Offer – March 2023

By Paul Moloney, PDA Union National Officer
Many will be aware from press coverage that a new pay offer for NHS employees on Agenda for Change terms and conditions was announced on 16 March. This offer covers NHS employees in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Those in Scotland have their own pay arrangements.

The situation for members in each of the four countries is as follows.

England

Following talks with trade unions, the UK government has agreed to revisit the 2022/23 pay award and add to the pay increases implemented last year a one-off lump sum.

This is non-consolidated, so will not count for pensions and therefore will be subject to tax and national insurance in the normal way, but not pension contributions. This lump sum will be 2% of salary plus at least £1250 described as a backlog bonus. For a band 6 pharmacists, the lump sum will be at least £1917, and for a band 7 pharmacists, at least £2070. This is in addition to the £1400 or 4% increase made from April 2022.

For 2023/24 the offer is an increase of 5% on all pay bands under Agenda for Change.

LEARN MORE

NHS re-banding event: NHS hospital pharmacists come together

Forty NHS hospital pharmacists from around the four UK nations met on 31 January to discuss how to apply for re-banding. The PDA’s hospital survey, which was published in Autumn 2022, showed that many members were unhappy with the band that they were on and were carrying out duties beyond their grade.

In response to this, the PDA held the event to guide members through the process to apply for re-banding. Paul Moloney, PDA National Officer, who leads on Agenda for Change negotiations, guided members through the process, and Tasnim Khan, PDA Policy Officer, talked about the findings of the survey.

This was the first event exclusively for NHS pharmacists run by the PDA and it was positive to see so many members engaging in the event.

Marium Javed, NHS hospital pharmacist, and PDA West and Wales Committee member said, “Like many NHS staff, hospital pharmacists are working incredibly hard in difficult conditions. Thanks to the PDA for guiding us on how we could increase our pay.”

The step-by-step guide to applying for job re-evaluation can be found here.

LEARN MORE

Hospital pharmacy: the value of being a PDA Hospital Rep

By Andrew Jukes, hospital pharmacist, and PDA Hospital Rep
Over the years I have worked in over forty different hospital organisations, spanning both the NHS and the private sector. Overall, my experience has been a positive one, but on occasion issues have arisen that have the potential to be detrimental to a positive work environment. This can impact on individuals or entire teams negatively and significantly.

The issues that hospital pharmacists raise are very similar to each other, but the magnitude and circumstances can vary.

A lot of these issues often remain unresolved over a period of time. Have you ever wondered why that is? Also, why is it the case that certain issues are common in many hospital pharmacy services?

Currently, the PDA Union does not have national recognition in the NHS and private sector hospital operators. Pharmacists themselves are busy people trying to serve the needs of patients, so it is not always easy to be the one that challenges a difficult circumstance individually. In addition, the solution to a problem may not be obvious or there are barriers such as a difficult manager that may need to be approached.

LEARN MORE

Being a Primary Care Network pharmacist and what the PDA means to me 

By Neera Goel, PDA Rep, PDA West and Wales Committee member, and Primary Care Network (PCN) pharmacist
I am an independent prescriber and Primary Care Network (PCN) pharmacist based in Solihull, West Midlands, I have been in this role for 30 months. My role includes being the Medicine Management Lead, managing clinical letters, and conducting long-term condition (LTC) clinics. I am also part of the Respiratory multidisciplinary team (MDT), where we meet fortnightly to discuss complicated respiratory patient cases and how we can manage them better. I run blood pressure clinics and structured medication review (SMR) clinics twice a week, for medication optimisation via shared decision-making, this includes care home patients.

Overcoming obstacles in my role

A previous obstacle in my role was the lack of access for community pharmacies to the practice. This was overcome by providing my NHS email address to ensure prompt resolution to queries and help better communication. Another obstacle was the lack of understanding of my role and what my limitations were, especially with the non-clinical team. This was overcome by working with the non-clinical team to ensure their queries were managed either by myself or the on-call GP. I have fortnightly MDT meetings with the PCN to discuss my role, my progression, and any obstacles. This has made me feel supported and appreciated.

LEARN MORE

Becoming a PDA Trainee Rep

By Sagarika Ojha, trainee pharmacist, and PDA Trainee Rep
During university, I was involved with the BPSA and did many events and projects with them. During my time as the BPSA Representative, I was introduced to the PDA during one of their talks. I then also got the opportunity to attend the very famous PDA curry night.

After leaving university, I joined the PDA because they provide a lot for trainee pharmacists and so I thought to get involved with this. After properly researching the PDA and what they do I was so interested that I decided to become a PDA Trainee Representative.

The PDA is like my pharmacy family who cares about pharmacists, trainee pharmacists, and pharmacy students. They are a not-for-profit organisation that defends pharmacists and always provides support when needed. They make pharmacists feel that we are not alone as they are always there to help if anything goes wrong and help with the legality of issues.

Due to all of the great work the PDA does, I have a passion to increase PDA awareness among pharmacists and my fellow trainee pharmacists. In my hospital, I did a presentation about the PDA and got everyone to sign up because they provide trainee pharmacists with great revision material for the GPhC registration assessment. I’m honestly loving being a PDA Trainee Representative, and I’m sure that I will always be involved with the PDA throughout my whole academic career as a trainee pharmacist and pharmacist.

BECOME A PDA REP

In case you missed it

Get involved

Please encourage your pharmacist colleagues who are not yet members of the PDA to join today.

 

 

 

 

 

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