The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has become a full member of the NHS Staff Council, a group of unions representing over one million NHS employees.
The union said this week that at the annual general meeting of the NHS Staff Side Council on September 10, existing members “voted to support the PDA’s full membership application”.
It follows the union’s two-year period with “observer” status on the council, it added, and the constitution has now been updated to include the PDA Union as a full voting member.
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The PDA called it a “significant moment” in its history, providing an “effective and independent voice at work exclusively for more than 40,000 of the UK’s pharmacists”.
It said that topics recently discussed by the council include pay, staff standards, flexible working and pensions, all of which “make a difference to the day-to-day working lives of NHS-employed pharmacists”.
PDA union director Paul Day told C+D that the council also addresses “tackling racism and sexual harassment”, and that “pensions are an issue” the PDA can now provide more guidance on.
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The PDA said full council membership means it can make a “greater contribution to the shared work of the staff side” than was possible in its previous role as an observer.
“Importantly, this new arrangement means that any matters which are specific to pharmacists can be raised directly, because the PDA is focused entirely on pharmacists,” it said.
PDA representatives
And the PDA said that its members can now volunteer to become the local PDA union representative, “a role for which they will receive paid time off from normal duties” and for which the union will provide training and other support.
“Pharmacists at that employer will then have a PDA rep representing their views and interests in conversation with local management,” it said.
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The PDA said that some of its members have already become recognised PDA reps and are “making a positive difference on the issues that matter to pharmacists at that employer”.
Day told C+D that the PDA’s “aspiration is to have a rep in every workplace because issues can happen in every workplace”.
Read more: PDA membership numbers grow for 23rd year in a row
It comes after the PDA Black, Asian and Minority Network began inviting nominations for its upcoming 2026 elections on Sunday.
And it follows the union last month publishing guidance on the “safe and effective use of AI in pharmacy practice”.
