The PDA was built upon a recognition of two important principles:
- That pharmacists are now working in an increasingly litigious and regulated environment and they needed to be able to enjoy a dedicated defence service; one that is solely focused upon looking after the interests of employee and self-employed pharmacists and one that was not in any way compromised by their employers’ interests or those of their employers’ representative organisation(s).
- That employee and self-employed pharmacists represented more than 90% of the entire profession and yet the majority of the agenda, the practice and the direction of the pharmacy profession was largely being led by employer representative organisations. This created an unacceptable imbalance within the profession – a direction that benefitted predominantly the employers and a situation that needed to be addressed.
Defending and articulating individual pharmacist’s interests
Unparalleled changes in healthcare are providing pharmacists with new and exciting opportunities. The fact that pharmacists are beginning to play a more comprehensive role is to be welcomed; however it has to be recognised that, in so doing, pharmacists are becoming more and more exposed to new areas of risk.
Whilst these many developments are progressing at a rapid pace, the individual pharmacist’s interests and concerns are not always well-articulated or considered. This leaves those who are at the leading edge of developments (and consequently the very pharmacists who are shouldering the main burden of that risk) feeling isolated, undervalued and often remote from the decisions that affect them.
The PDA will aim to address these issues by:
- Supporting you in your legal, ethical and employment needs
- Proactively seeking to influence the professional, ethical and employment agenda to support members
- Leading and supporting initiatives designed to improve the knowledge and skills of pharmacists in managing risk and safe practices, so improving patient care
- Working with like-minded organisations to further improve the membership benefits to individual pharmacists.
- Working with insurance providers to arrange insurance cover to safeguard and defend your reputation throughout your professional life