The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has announced the launch of a “powerful” new benefit to support pharmacists “in the aftermath of a violent attack”.
The PDA said it follows a “shocking” incident at the end of this year, in which “a patient attempted to strangle a pharmacist”.
The new benefit, which extends to both employed and self-employed PDA members, will “provide up to ten days of financial support” and “replace lost income” so pharmacists can “take more time off work for recovery”.
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“Subject to being able to comply with certain operational conditions, such as providing a police crime reference number linked to a violent attack in the pharmacy, the new member benefit would provide up to ten days’ benefit of up to £350 per day,” the PDA added.
The organisation said employers “may not provide their pharmacists with sufficient time off work” after experiencing violence in the workplace - and that “many employers will only provide…two or three days’ full pay, requiring them to rely upon statutory sick pay benefits thereafter”.
And it added that the situation is “even worse” for self-employed locums, who are not “entitled to receive any pay from an employer in the event of having to take time off to recover from a violent attack”.
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The PDA said it has also “agreed with a specialist firm of lawyers” that, if an employer is found to have “acted in such a way as to increase the risk and likelihood of an attack”, it will “seek to pursue” compensation on behalf of the pharmacist and “also consider action against the employer on a no-win-no-fee basis, if possible”.
“This support is being added as a standard PDA membership benefit at no additional cost to members,” it added.
Practical support
PDA chair Mark Koziol said that “on too many occasions”, pharmacists who have been attacked at work are not “given the support that they need in the aftermath”.
“We are meant to be a caring profession, but when push comes to shove, pharmacists are often not treated at all well,” he added.
And he said the PDA recognises that the new benefit “is no fulsome compensation for an episode that could haunt [someone] for many years”, but it is “at least a practical token of support which shows we care”.
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It comes as the PDA announced last week that it has “established a formal recognition agreement” with Superdrug “after a period of discussions”.
It said at the time that the agreement “outlines the framework for how the union will represent pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists employed by Superdrug”.
And it added that as part of the agreement, the PDA will “identify and train” Superdrug-employed pharmacists to “serve as PDA representatives within the company”.
