The PDA welcomes the announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) that they have agreed to a 7.2% boost to funding of GP practice contracts. This was agreed after the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee agreed a new contract in England for the first time in four years.
Whether a local GP practice is owned and operated by a partnership of doctors, or by others, modern general practices employ a range of health professionals, often including pharmacists, to deliver patient care.
The PDA therefore encourages these employers to ensure that the use of increased funding received under their new contract benefits all those they employ. For example, pharmacists in some GP practices in England have been unable to secure permanent contracts due to the temporary nature of existing funding, and this boost could mean greater job security for those individuals.
The PDA represents pharmacists working in all sectors of pharmacy across the UK, including general practice, and therefore sees the instances when employment practice can go wrong. Though often referred to as being part of the NHS, these are independent employers and employment conditions and standards required at NHS employers do not automatically apply. Roles are sometimes spoken about as being ‘equivalent’ to NHS grades, but employees later realise that they are not contractually linked to NHS terms and conditions.
The PDA believes that in general, there needs to be greater awareness that many organisations that deliver NHS services and may have the NHS logo on the door and even an nhs.uk website address, may not be an actual NHS employer. In extreme cases such organisations have even entered insolvency, learn more here.
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