For nearly four years, the PDA has campaigned to halt the threat of remote supervision. In the autumn of 2009, as part of its ongoing efforts to halt this threat, the PDA took its campaign directly to the electorate by seeking candidates who shared our concerns and wished to halt Remote Supervision if elected to the new Professional Leadership body.
The PDA is delighted to learn that all those candidates who we were prepared to endorse because they shared that vision have been elected and that they will be leading the profession for the next few years.
Mark Koziol PDA Chairman said;
“The profession has voted to register its concern about the future direction of the delivery of pharmacy services by remote supervision. The battle is not yet over – now the real hard work begins. We enthusiastically look forward to a closer working relationship with the new Professional Leadership Body. Although we believe that remote supervision is a major threat to our profession and patient safety we are confident that the newly elected representatives will address a wide range of issues that will be important to all pharmacists irrespective of which branch of the profession they work in or their geographical location.”
He continued;
“The election results in themselves are staggering and indicate the depth of feeling amongst grass root pharmacists; employee pharmacists have also fired a warning shot across the bows of their employers by failing to back senior company candidates. Anecdotal evidence from members suggests that this may be as a result of employees feeling badly let down in the way changes have been brought about through the introduction of the Responsible Pharmacist regulations. We hope that this will be a signal to all employers and it will encourage them to engage with and show more empathy towards their pharmacist workforce in the future.”
ENDS.
Note for Editors – The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA)
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is a not for profit organisation which aims is to act upon and support the needs of individual pharmacists and, when necessary, to defend their reputation. PDA currently has more than 15,500 members. The PDA Union was inaugurated in May 2008.
The primary aims of the PDA are to;
- Support pharmacists in their legal, practice and employment needs.
- Provide insurance cover to safeguard and defend the reputation of the individual pharmacist.
- Proactively seek to influence the professional, practice and employment agenda to support members.
- Lead and support initiatives designed to improve the knowledge and skills of pharmacists in managing risk and safe practices, so improving patient care.
- Work with like-minded organisations to further improve the membership benefits to individual pharmacists.
Editors requiring further information should contact:
Mark Koziol, Chairman mark.koziol@the-pda.org
John Murphy, Director john.murphy@the-pda.org
Tel: 0121 694 7000
Fax: 0121 694 7001