ASDA has announced an intention to make changes to how they operate their pharmacies. The PDA understands that this means pharmacies will now report outside the main store management structures with a new Practice Manager responsible for each pharmacy and reporting to a separate Healthcare Area Manager.
The company has said that, following a trial in some stores, available working patterns across all pharmacies will also be made consistent with a limited number of options for full or part-time shift patterns. Some pharmacists may welcome the decision to separate line management reporting lines from the overall store structure and the potential for this to focus more on healthcare. The practice manager roles may also provide career development opportunities.
However, each employee is an individual with their own responsibilities and life outside of work and changes may not be welcome by everybody affected. How changes are developed, communicated, and implemented also impacts individuals. Some PDA members have already raised concerns relating to how the proposed changes may impact them.
As the voice of employed and locum pharmacists, the PDA is there to help members understand and exercise their rights and responsibilities as employees and as pharmacists. Those pharmacists with concerns should therefore contact the PDA Member Support Centre to lodge their situation. Members are also encouraged to provide the PDA with copies of the internal documentation they’ve been sent to receive legal advice.
Pharmacists at ASDA who are not yet PDA members need to join here before they can access the support of the PDA.
What next
PDA members who require specific support should contact the PDA Member Support Centre.
Learn more
- PDA will support pharmacists as ASDA announces pharmacy closures (January 2023)
- ASDA pharmacists may be impacted by hours reduction (April 2022)
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.