Three in five pharmacy staff worried about Covid-19 threat: PDA

Nearly 60 per cent of the community pharmacy staff feel anxious about the threat of Covid-19 at their workplace, a latest survey by the Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) has showed.

The pharmacy body’s recent survey examined the experience of pharmacists related to risk assessment and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

The survey had a particular focus on the treatment of black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) pharmacists, who have been shown to be at increased risk of Covid-19 pandemic related issues.

The BAME network were the first to complete the survey before it went out to the wider membership.

Six per cent of PDA members reported overhearing colleagues making derogatory or inflammatory comments in relation to ethnicity of a patient or member of staff.

The report added that the response from management was ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in 62 per cent of such cases. The response was ‘barely acceptable’ in 20 per cent of the cases and ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ in 12 per cent.

“The PDA are pleased with the response from BAME members but we can see that there is much work to be done around managing risk in pharmacy and in terms of addressing discrimination,” commented Alima Batchelor, Head of Policy at the PDA.

“These issues in the workplace are active issues in which the PDA is representing the concerns of pharmacists and we are working to improve conditions at work. The responses to the survey will help inform our activity.”

Other major highlights of the survey include:

Employer support and risk assessments 

• 53 per cent of employers offered health and wellbeing support during the COVID-19 crisis
• Only 44 per cent of employers had carried out risk assessments of the pharmacy premises
• Just 39 per cent of employers had carried out risk assessments in relation to individual pharmacists
• 36 per cent of employers had done a risk assessment of the pharmacy team

• Only 27 per cent of the risk assessments took into account age, ethnicity and long-term health conditions

PPE

• 5 per cent of employers did not provide any PPE
• 13 per cent of pharmacists were asked to reuse PPE
• 12 per cent of respondents had been actively discouraged from wearing PPE by their employer
• 40 per cent of respondents had not received any training on the correct use of PPE

Social distancing

• The two-metre social distancing rule between staff and patients is enforced by 70 per cent of employers
• Between staff members within staff areas such as canteens and break out areas, this figure drops to 46 per cent

Over 70 per cent of the respondents to the survey were female, and the BAME pharmacists constituted 48 per cent.