The PDA reacted to media reports last year about potential closures at Morrisons which were later confirmed as four pharmacy closures alongside the closures of 52 cafés, 17 convenience stores, 35 meat counters and 13 florists across the supermarket’s network.
However, the sale of many Morrisons pharmacies now seems to be back on the agenda with further media reports saying that the Company Chemists Association member intends to sell “dozens” of pharmacies after their overall business lost £381M last year. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register says Morrisons currently have 115 pharmacies.
Branch sales and TUPE
If a branch is sold to another organisation it may mean that staff are transferred to a new employer. Where part of an organisation, is transferred from one employer to another like this it can mean that the TUPE regulations apply. TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations that protect employees’ rights when they transfer to a new employer.
TUPE protects employees’ status and conditions of employment and if a TUPE transfer is to occur, by law, both the old and new employers must inform and consult with affected employees and their representatives. This means they listen to affected employees or their representatives about expected ‘measures’ – measures are any changes which will affect employees as a result of the transfer.
The PDA has significant experience in supporting pharmacists who go through TUPE transfers.
What to do now
Employed pharmacists may want to ensure that they have an up to date copy of their employment contract and their employer’s staff handbook at home. This is good advice to any employee as it can be useful to have these documents to hand in case potential change is announced at the workplace.
Once any proposals for changes to a specific pharmacy or individual roles are known, then PDA members who wish to discuss any concerns are encouraged to contact the PDA Member Support Centre at that time.
Pharmacists employed at Morrisons who are not yet members of the PDA should consider joining as soon as possible, see below. The PDA can represent pharmacists wherever they are employed or practice.
Locums should make sure that they always have written details of what company has engaged them so that if the pharmacy changes ownership there can be no confusion as to who owes them any fees.
Sector oversight and future stability
While every pharmacy sold must by definition have a buyer not all such changes bring stability. In addition to supporting individual pharmacists impacted by these pharmacy sales, the PDA is once again calling for effective oversight from NHS England (itself currently merging back into the Department of Health and Social Care) and GPhC to better protect patients and staff from future issues that may arise.
The PDA recognises that the sector is still dealing with the consequences of the exit of LloydsPharmacy, who initially closed every pharmacy operated inside a Sainsbury’s store and then sold around 1,000 pharmacies across the country. At the time the PDA highlighted the need for greater oversight at sector level and were told that sufficient scrutiny and oversight was in place.
However, the recent issues with Jhoots pharmacy while also caused by business behaviours, are the latest example of what happened when a smaller multiple grew quickly through purchasing many branches (from LloydsPharmacy) and ultimately caused issues for patients, employers, locums and suppliers with the associated impact on the sector’s reputation.
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.
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