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Letters to the Editor
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Pharmacy practice
PDA — working hard to give pharmacists a break
From Mr M. Koziol, MRPharmS
Several previous correspondents have referred to the “Dealing with,
and overcoming, problems in contracts of employment” guide which
has recently been published by the Pharmacists’ Defence Association and distributed to over 18,000 employee and locum pharmacists and to almost
2,000 employers at their request.
In particular Chijioke
Agomo (PJ, 27 August, p251)) believes it is important
for the PDA to present its work to policy makers in pharmacy, so as to
secure a more balanced outcome for employees and locums.
I can assure Mr Agomo that the guide has been sent to both the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society, and also to the Company Chemists’ Association, and we have
invited them to respond to the guide and also the contract for services
for locums. The PDA, in the meantime, will continue to lobby widely for
improvements to the working environments of employee and locum pharmacists
wherever appropriate.
In researching and disseminating the guide on such a scale, the PDA has
provided the majority of employee and locum pharmacists with a practical,
risk management framework which will enable them to recognise and challenge
unreasonably imposed terms and conditions. In addition, members have the
support of an association that will protect their interests in the event
that this leads to a dispute with their employers.
More importantly however, the PDA is undertaking research, which is examining
the link between work breaks, staffing levels and dispensing errors. We
are confident that, when linked to a public safety issue, the work break
and staffing level debate will be elevated to a new level and will be taken
much more seriously by both the regulatory authorities and, consequently,
the pharmacy employers.
We hope to be able to complete this work in time for our next annual conference
to be held in Birmingham in February 2006.
We invite any employee or locum pharmacists who have encountered poor experiences
relating to lack of work breaks and poor staffing levels to share their
experience with the PDA via email on enquiries@the-pda.org
Mark Koziol
Director
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal