PDA Early Careers Network Newsletter – July 2024

In this issue:

• PDA EDI Networks update
• The annual PDA trainee survey is now open!
• Access the FREE PDA Education Programme
• Making a difference in the PDA
• How the PDA works with others
• A safe working environment 
• Trainees, don’t forget to renew your PDA membership
• How PDA members can work together
• PDA launches election 2024 manifesto
• Get involved

A significant way that Early Careers Network members can get involved is through the PDA’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Networks. The PDA has four EDI Networks, the National Association of Women Pharmacists (NAWP), the BAME Pharmacists’ Network, the LGBT+ Pharmacists’ Network, and the Ability Network, for pharmacists with disabilities. All networks are free for trainee pharmacists to join or just £10 per year for members who are qualified pharmacists. You can join the networks whether you identify with them or are an ally. Below is an update on what each of the networks have done recently:The PDA NAWP Network

In March 2024, the PDA NAWP Network hosted their annual International Women’s Day event around the theme of inclusion in pharmacy. Those in attendance shared personal stories of discrimination at work while experiencing breast and cervical cancer. NAWP are currently holding elections for a new President, Vice President, and Honorary Secretary. If you’d like to stand for election to the NAWP committee, find out more here. Nominations are due by Friday 12 July at 5 pm.

The PDA BAME Network

In May 2024, the PDA BAME Network hosted a panel event at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress (CPC) London, on stopping racism at the front line of pharmacy.  At this event, members discussed key trends in racism in pharmacy in relation to available data such as the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES). They talked about how and why employers need to challenge and address racism wherever it is present and commit to having anti-racist workplaces. Members also highlighted the PDA’s Anti-Racist Pharmacy Toolkit during the panel event. The PDA BAME Network will be holding elections for its committee in the Autumn. If you’re interested in putting yourself forward for a position and would like to find out more you are encouraged to email organising@pda-union.org

The PDA Ability Network

In June 2024, the PDA Ability Network launched the ‘It’s Time to Address Discrimination: Standing up for Sitting down’ campaign. The campaign focused on, encouraging pharmacists with disabilities or long-term health conditions to assert their rights at work, demanding that employers make appropriate reasonable adjustments and asking them to create a culture of zero tolerance that has no place for discrimination in the workplace. The campaign was launched following the PDA Ability Network’s disability discrimination survey that revealed 52% of respondents had experienced disability discrimination at work, and 40% felt they had been excluded from the workforce, underemployed, or unemployed due to their disability.

The PDA LGBT+ Network

For Pride Month 2024, the PDA LGBT+ Network hosted an online networking event for members and also published its annual newsletter. The network will be attending the Manchester Pride Parade this year on Saturday 24 August and those wishing to join the network on the day can register their interest here.

We are committed to listening to our members to identify the issues important to them. If you’re a trainee pharmacist, please share your experiences in this survey by completing it here.We will use the information you provide to continue to lobby on your behalf with stakeholders, communicate with members, and issue guidance where appropriate. We will also use your responses to improve our own education and support provision for future trainee pharmacists.

Your voice matters and we are keen to listen to you.

This survey will take just six minutes to complete and will remain open until Monday 12 August.

PDA Education are running their third summer school this year with online courses available for free to all PDA members. New for 2024 is our live online workshop on assertiveness. We will also be running self-directed online programmes on being a mentor, being a mentee, and developing effective team working. These programmes will be available from mid-August.

A self-directed online programme those in the Early Careers Network may be particularly interested is on CV writing and interview skills which will help you if you are looking for career progression and/or a new opportunity. This course is available all year round and will help you to develop and update your CV so you can advertise your skills and greatest strengths.

This course is useful for all PDA members and includes:

• Advice on writing a CV
• Tailoring your CV to specific roles
• Interview skills
• Preparing for Interviews.

Interviews are always nerve-wracking but this course will help you to prepare for an interview so you can be ready for the tricky questions and feel more confident in showing them that you are best person for the job.

All PDA education programmes are FREE to PDA members and are offered as a key opportunity to develop your interpersonal and communication skills. The programmes are mapped to the GPhC and PSNI standards. Information on each programme along with registration links can be found on the PDA’s website here.

My name is Scott Rutherford and I am a newly qualified pharmacist working in the hospital sector in the North West of England. I am also the PDA Union Executive Member for students and trainee pharmacists, meaning that I represent students’ and trainees’ interests to the PDA’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

As part of my role representing students and trainees, I have raised members’ concerns relating to the quality and quantity of placements throughout the MPharm and career progression for pharmacists not registering as prescribers.

I have discussed the issue of the depth and breadth of multi-sector foundation training placements with an NHS body. I have also raised awareness of and celebrated the success of the PDA Student led campaign for MPharm students to be granted access to the NHS Learning Support Fund.

The interests of student and trainee pharmacists clearly overlap with the interests of other early careers pharmacists, so I am keen to be involved with the Early Careers Network, both as a very early career pharmacist myself and as a representative to the PDA’s leadership. It is likely that you will see me at Early Careers Network meetings or on the WhatsApp group so don’t hesitate to network with me!

We are affiliated to several wider groups and we campaign with different organisations that share the same objectives on specific issues or policy. The reason we do this is because we believe that we achieve more by joining with others and working together. Affiliating and campaigning with others allows us to maximise  efforts and the impact of their combined activity.Some of our affiliations include, EPhEU (European Association of Employed Community Pharmacists), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) and many more. By being affiliated with these organisations PDA members can also take advantage of some of the benefits they have to offer. Learn more about our affiliations by clicking here.

Some of the organisations we campaign with are:

Learn more about the organisations we campaign with here.

The PDA believes that every pharmacist has the right to work in a safe working environment that protects both them and their patients. As part of this belief, PDA members helped create the PDA’s Safer Pharmacies Charter which contains seven commitments that define basic standards to ensure safe practice wherever pharmacists work.

The seven commitments are:

An ideal and safe workplace should make sure that each of these commitments are met to benefit both pharmacists and patients. You can support the charter by adding your voice to the campaign for safer pharmacies by clicking here and encourage your employer/s to implement the commitments.

Trainee pharmacists, did you know that after your receive your results we are here to continue to support you, whatever your results may have been.Your PDA membership has been FREE throughout your student and trainee years, and we will be offering newly qualified membership FREE until 31 October 2024 to those who passed. Please keep an eye on your inbox for more details on renewing your membership once your receive your results.

If you have been unsuccessful or have not yet sat the assessment we can still support you on your career journey with our potential pharmacist membership. Again, please keep an eye on your inbox for more details in the coming weeks.

If you want any advice or support, you don’t need to feel alone or isolated. You can contact us by calling 0121 694 7000. We are here to help. For further support, you can also visit our website.

There are many ways that PDA members can work together to effect change in the pharmacy profession. Some of these ways include taking part in member led campaigns such as the PDA student campaign to secure fair financial support for MPharm students or NAWP Spotlight which allows members to share their personal experiences of the issues that matter and how these issues impact them at work.

As members of the PDA Early Careers Network you have the opportunity to work together and raise awareness of issues that matter to you in the workplace with support from the PDA. You can join the networks dedicated WhatsApp group to connect with your peers and discuss matters of importance, or become a PDA Trainee or Workplace Rep which is a key role in supporting fellow PDA members. You can even work closely with your peers and the PDA to lead on your own campaigns that you feel would benefit trainees and those in the first 5 years of their careers.

Those interested in getting involved, working with and supporting others are encouraged to email organising@pda-union.org or join the PDA Early Careers Network’s dedicated whatsapp group by clicking here.

By working together you can achieve more to support the future of pharmacy!

We recently launched our first manifesto designed to highlight the importance of pharmacists in an era where healthcare is increasingly complex and multifaceted, with rising demands on systems and ongoing developments in professional practice. Our manifesto is a call to action for the next cohort of MPs to embrace pharmacists’ unique position within the healthcare system. As trusted healthcare professionals, pharmacists are at the forefront of ensuring medication safety, promoting wellness, and improving patient outcomes.

Our manifesto sets out specific asks which emphasise the need for a sustainable NHS, investment in the workforce, integration across the system, and effective governance. Through support for these principles, there is an opportunity for pharmacists to advocate for patients and contribute to the important debate around the health and wellbeing of our communities, regardless of the stage you may be at in your career. There are key issues in the manifesto that particularly speak to trainee pharmacists and students, and we encourage all PDA Early Careers Network members to read the manifesto in full here.

We will continue to highlight and develop the content and themes within the manifesto to deepen the general public’s understanding of the role of pharmacists. Last week, on the 76th birthday of the NHS, we highlighted the importance of pharmacists in the delivery of NHS care, calling on the new government to focus on enhancing patient safety around medicines, improving access to safe and effective NHS care for patients, and supporting the vital pharmacist workforce.

In particular, our manifesto calls for an NHS and care system that is fit for all, by:

With the election now behind us, and a new government in place, we encourage all members to share the manifesto with their newly elected MPs to help them better understand pharmacy and our work and members, and to ask them to take up the issues at a local and national level.

Get involved