PDA BAME Network Newsletter – October 2026

For BAME workers, fair pay is about more than headline salary. It also concerns whether race affects access to progression, bonuses, overtime, development opportunities, and senior roles. The Equality Act 2010 protects workers from race discrimination. Race is defined broadly and includes colour, nationality, and ethnic, or national origins.The Equality Act 2010 provides distinct routes for challenging pay inequality. Its equal pay provisions require equality between women and men doing equal work. For BAME workers, pay inequality may therefore need to be considered under the Act’s wider race discrimination provisions, because a worker does not always need a direct comparator to challenge unfair treatment linked to race.

Ethnicity pay gap data can reveal differences in average pay and progression between workers who are minority ethnic and those who are not. Those differences do not automatically prove unlawful discrimination, but they may indicate that an employer’s pay and promotion practices require closer scrutiny.

Beyond the degree: what I learned as Vice President of the PDA BAME Network

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) recently consulted on proposed changes to education and training for internationally qualified pharmacists (IQPs) wanting to register in Great Britain.

The GPhC proposals included:

The total overall number of Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme (OSPAP) applicants has also grown significantly in the past few years. In 2025, GPhC data shows that over 80% of applicants wishing to join the register via the OSPAP route came from four countries where there is a significant difference in the scope of pharmacy practice; India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Egypt.

PDA analysis of GPhC OSPAP visit reports also showed that OSPAP students really value the one year at university and how this prepares them to acclimatise to public expectations and the nuances and scope of pharmacy practice in GB. Feedback received from PDA members and the PDA BAME Network confirms this and showed concern that, with the shortened pathway, IQPs would not receive the quality and depth of support required.

This is especially important as the proposal also includes 90 hours of prescribing training. By comparison, the GPhC 2021 standards provide significant support and prepare students over a five-year period to register as prescribing pharmacists at the point of registration.

The PDA believes that the GPhC proposals, including the removal of the foundation training year, do not sufficiently support IQPs to prepare them for practice in GB.

OSPAPs can find educational and other support by joining the PDA for free as student members.

The PDA will be running an election for BAME Network Officers in the coming weeks. Three positions are available: President, Vice-President, and Honorary Secretary.Every two years, members of the PDA BAME Network can elect three Officers, who will lead the network and work alongside the Immediate Past President and co-opted committee members.

Those wishing to nominate themselves must be members of the BAME Network to be considered for election. BAME Network members may apply for multiple roles, but can only be successful in one and cannot be an elected Officer of more than one PDA EDI Network simultaneously.

BAME Network members who are interested in standing for any of the above positions should email the information below to [email protected] by 5 pm on Friday 16 October 2026.