Insight Online – August 2024

We must all be actively anti-racist
 

Following our statement earlier this month about keeping pharmacists safe at work during the riots plaguing parts of the UK, we reiterate our view that not being racist is not enough. We must all be anti-racist.We stand resolutely for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), and the BAME Pharmacists’ Network is one of four equality groups within the PDA family, working year-round to improve EDI across pharmacy and in wider society.

We remind all members, pharmacists, and pharmacy employers that tackling all forms of racism, including islamophobia, should not be limited to responding to the current issue of criminal riots, but is an everyday responsibility for everyone. As we have said many times, “Either we all live in an equal world, or none of us do.”

PDA responds to the urgent investigation of the NHS by Lord Darzi

We have submitted evidence to Professor Lord Darzi on key policy areas that it believes are high priority issues and could significantly improve NHS care for patients.

In the early days of the new Labour government the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting announced an urgent investigation of the NHS by Professor Lord Ara Darzi, a former health minister, a lifelong surgeon, and an independent peer. Lord Darzi previously led a comprehensive review of the NHS and published ‘High Quality Care for All’ in June 2008, which included recommendations around the freedom to focus on quality and putting frontline staff in control.

The current investigation is set to provide a ‘raw and honest assessment’ of issues facing health service and its findings will feed into the government’s 10-year plan to radically reform the nation’s health service.

Boots ordered to pay £58,000 following racial harassment case

A tribunal has ordered Boots to pay £58,000 in compensation and costs following a hearing to decide the amount of money due to a pharmacist who was racially profiled at work.

The pharmacist was represented throughout the internal grievance processes and at the Employment Tribunal hearing by ourselves as the independent trade union for pharmacists. In a detailed written judgment, the pharmacy team members and company managers were heavily criticised by the Tribunal, who found the pre-registration pharmacy technician and a pharmacy advisor working with the pharmacist during the shift had undermined the pharmacist in his professional role as the Responsible Pharmacist (RP) and insulted him.

The pharmacist, who is black and of Nigerian national origin, complained to Boots about his experience, however, the subsequent investigation was described by the Judge as “simply not fit for purpose” and lacking a “basic level of competence.” The grievance manager was “not equipped” for an enquiry of this nature with no specific training on conducting grievances into serious allegations of discrimination.