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Letters to the Editor
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The profession
Not family friendly
From Mrs A. Morant, MRPharmS
I believe that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is a major factor in
pharmacy ceasing to be a “family friendly” profession.
At one time, one could always get cover if, for example, a child was
ill or the school closed for the day. Cover was also available should
one only want to work during school hours. This was a vital factor in
enabling married women with children to remain in pharmacy.
Unfortunately, for several years, the Society has pursued a policy which,
in my view, acts to the detriment of those who wish to (or need to) work
less than full time. The effect has been that the numbers on the Register
decrease at the same time as the demand for pharmacists increases.
For example, the Society discouraged branches from providing locum lists
which provided a valuable (local) channel of communications between those
needing the occasional locum and those needing the work. Then, in 2001,
the Society decided that it was not a task for the branches and that
owner/managers in need of a locum should go to an agency. This is a head-in-the-clouds
view as one cannot, for example, contact an agency over the weekend to
obtain emergency cover for Monday. Furthermore, providing cover for the
odd day, or even less, can hardly be profitable for an agency.
Thus, at a stroke, the Society introduced a policy that is detrimental
to both the supply and demand for locums. This situation has been further
exacerbated by the removal of the reduced retention fee for those only
doing a limited amount of work. After all, many a young mother will not
have this sort of money to gamble at the beginning of the year in the
hope of getting sufficient work to justify that expenditure nor will
she be able to spare the time to go “chasing” possible work.
The need now is for the Society to come down to earth, reassess these
policies and treat pharmacists as responsible professionals before it
is too late.
Annette Morant
Edgware,
Middlesex
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal