Well is the latest multiple to announce a proposed change to its structures and PDA is advising pharmacist union members to get in contact if they have any concerns about the implications for their employment. Although no pharmacist roles should be removed by this change, there will nevertheless be impact for pharmacists.
Where change happens to structure the PDA want to see everyone treated fairly and supported. We care passionately about non-pharmacist colleagues who may face potential unemployment, which is why we encourage every working person to join an appropriate union, but our role is to represent and support pharmacists.
We appreciate that there could be positive benefits for patients and for staff from ensuring local management are all qualified health professionals and some members may welcome the opportunity for career opportunities. However, each pharmacist is an individual and not all will feel able, or want, to be a manager. Any individual may also have specific circumstances, such as their working hours, outside caring responsibilities or health which determine what roles would be suitable for them.
As well as the personal impact of potentially losing longstanding friends from the workplace, the removal of many combined years of knowledge and experience from any company will be felt by those who remain. Any reduction of overall team capacity also means those who remain must take on extra workload. The overall disruption of moving from one structure to another also impacts on the short to medium term performance as everyone involved adjusts and such changes usually take many months or even years to settle in. Understanding that it is not just those who lose their jobs who are impacted, and including that in plans, is a critical factor in how well such change in managed.
We will support our members with concerns about what this change means to them. PDA Union members can contact us with workplace concerns and any pharmacist or pre-registration pharmacist who has not yet joined the PDA can do so here: https://www.the-pda.org/join/