Since last year’s #Pharmacy24 campaign, the PDA has continued to support pharmacists through the Covid-19 pandemic. Trainee pharmacists have also been supported through the GPhC assessment and the PDA has offered ongoing support to pharmacy students. Below is a list of just some of the key achievements worth noting…
1. PDA supports pharmacy students
Over the last year, the PDA has supported pharmacy students with a range of issues such as giving advice to those who may have been affected by lecturers taking strike action and supporting student members through misconduct allegations. The PDA was also able to intervene in a recent Fitness to Practise case when a student member with a disability was treated unfairly by a School of Pharmacy. This swift intervention helped save the student member over £50,000 in lost salary. The PDA also provides free training for pharmacy students to become Student Reps. This allows them to develop their skills within the pharmacy profession and network with students, trainees, and qualified pharmacists to further develop their careers. As part of this support, PDA membership is also FREE for pharmacy students and trainee pharmacists, join here.
2. PDA donates over £150,000 to Pharmacist Support
Each year the PDA donates £1 per member to its charity partner Pharmacist Support. Donations to the profession’s independent charity have now surpassed £150,000. Since achieving this amount, the PDA has encouraged pharmacy employers and pharmacist organisations to also donate £1 per pharmacist employee or member to the charity. These donations make a substantive difference to the charity’s funding and help with supporting pharmacists, their families, former pharmacists, and pharmacy students in Great Britain.
3. PDA campaigns to end violence in pharmacy
The PDA prioritises the health and safety of pharmacists. As a result, the PDA has an ongoing campaign to end violence in pharmacy. This campaign encourages pharmacy employers and organisations to have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse in pharmacies. The PDA has published a variety of free resources to support the campaign. In 2021, the PDA also released shocking CCTV footage showing the extent of an attack on a pharmacist that resulted in personal injury. The footage highlights the need for a zero-tolerance approach to abuse in pharmacies.
4. PDA Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Networks
The PDA has four EDI Networks; the NAWP Network, BAME Network, LGBT+ Network and the Ability Network. Each of these networks provide a structure through which members can work together to proactively address and campaign around all forms of discrimination and its causes and consequences. Over the last year, the networks have run a number of successful member events and have had a variety of achievements such as contributing to the ’16 Days of Action Against Domestic Violence’ campaign, raising awareness of mental health in the workplace, and launching a range of factsheets designed to achieve equality in the workplace. Learn more about the PDA EDI Networks here.
5. PDA’s work to defend members
The PDA announced in January 2022 that it secured nearly £196K in payments for pharmacists through recent tribunal claims. The PDA tries to support members to resolve workplace disputes early, locally, and without a conflict or formal dispute if possible. Some of the cases the PDA recently defended its members in, contained issues around unfair dismissal, maternity, disability discrimination, race discrimination, unfair deductions of wages and more.
6. PDA releases a range of FREE resources
In order to offer continued support to members, the PDA has released a range of resources over the last year. These free resources are designed to offer advice and guidance on a range of topics that affect pharmacists. Some of the key resources over the last year include a Guide to Covid-19 vaccine administration, a Race and Ethnicity Terminology Factsheet, and a Guide to Discrimination and the pregnant employee. All of the FREE PDA resources can be found here.
7. PDA Education offers FREE support and training to members
The PDA’s Education Hub is an online platform that provides free training to PDA members. In January 2022, it announced its first all-member courses. These courses, ‘Being a mentee’ and ‘Being a mentor’, were designed to help PDA members to understand what they can expect as a mentee and assess their mentoring skills. Along with this, in November 2021, PDA Education delivered its first face-to-face training course for PDA Workplace Reps. The course was designed to further develop their skills and knowledge of the PDA and give them the confidence to carry out their roles. Learn about becoming a PDA Rep here. PDA Education also launched its ‘Learning Needs Survey’. The survey was designed to help expand on the support and types of training PDA Education can offer to members. The results are currently being used to develop the PDA’s education programme for members and PDA Reps.
8. PDA supports trainee pharmacists
Over the last year, the PDA has continued to support trainees in passing the GPhC assessment. This support included helping trainees with reasonable adjustments, helping them to understand when to withdraw and when to nullify the assessment, and supporting those through their appeals process. PDA Education also offers trainees a revision programme that includes timed mock exams, revision questions, and case studies all designed to help prepare trainees for their assessment. As part of this support, PDA membership is also FREE for trainee pharmacists and pharmacy students, join here.
9. PDA negotiates for better pay for pharmacists
Through the PDA Union, more than 20 employers negotiate improvements to pay and conditions. The recent pay talks at Boots secured a pay review package, much improved on that given to non-unionised employees and the first pay talks with LloydsPharmacy started in December 2021. Pay talks at other smaller employers, including GP Federations in Northern Ireland, are also happening regularly to negotiate better pay and working conditions for pharmacists.
10. PDA’s annual Safer Pharmacies Survey
Each year the PDA runs its Safer Pharmacies Survey. The survey is based on the PDA’s Safer Pharmacies Charter which contains seven commitments designed to improve safety and care for patients, through better working conditions in UK pharmacy practice. The 2021 survey saw an almost universal worsening in working conditions in pharmacies and highlighted the challenging and unsafe environments that some pharmacists are working in. The PDA has since highlighted the issues raised to the NHS and other stakeholders and has called upon employers to take proactive steps to protect pharmacy teams across the country. The PDA has also encouraged pharmacy employers and organisations to sign up to the Safer Pharmacies Charter.
11. PDA joins pharmacy organisations across Europe to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine
Following an executive meeting of EPhEU, of which PDA Chairman, Mark Koziol is also the Secretary General, it was agreed that the respective member unions work together to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The PDA has signed the joint statement agreeing to stand ready to provide support to the people of Ukraine in whatever way is deemed appropriate. This was the first step and more practical initiatives are set to follow. Read the joint statement here.
12. PDA works with other unions
The PDA works with other trade unions in order to further the interests of the pharmacy profession. In 2021, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) adopted a proposal from the PDA that states that decision making by the government regarding future pharmacy policy and service design should be made through tripartite structures. The PDA also became affiliated with the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) and members in Scotland can get involved with their local trades councils and the wider work of the STUC.
Celebrating #Pharmacy24 on social media
Over the course of the day, the PDA will be using the hashtag #Pharmacy24 across its various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) to share some of the ways that they are actively working to support PDA members and the profession.
Get involved
The PDA encourages pharmacists and PDA members to share their #Pharmacy24 posts on social media and to join the campaign by using this hashtag to promote the work of pharmacy teams.
Related links
- PDA’s swift intervention to support a student member saves over £50K in potential loss of salary
- PDA calls on employers and pharmacist organisations to make “New Year Resolution” to support the profession’s charity
- Violence in Pharmacy
- PDA Member Networks
- PDA secures nearly £196K in payments for pharmacists through recent tribunal claims
- Resources
- PDA Education
- PDA Trainee Pharmacists
- Conclusion of 2021 pay negotiations with Boots UK
- PDA’s 2021 Safer Pharmacies Survey shows an unacceptable decline in working conditions
- Safer Pharmacies Charter
- PDA joins pharmacy organisations across Europe to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine
- PDA Union members now get access to STUC webinars and events
- PDA Reps
Not yet a PDA member?
If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefits here.