Multiples

CVS slapped with nationwide lawsuit over ‘unlawful’ opioid prescriptions

 
• By 

The US DOJ has filed a lawsuit against CVS alleging its “actions helped to fuel the opioid crisis” as it “prioritized corporate profits over patient safety”.

exclusive

‘Accept these terms or go’: Asda pharmacists face redundancy over new contracts

 
• By 

Asda will “endeavour to retain as many pharmacists as possible” while it implements a “new model” – but is no longer offering £1,000 one-time payments to sweeten the deal, C+D has learned.

PDA: Superdrug management ‘ill informed’ about union recognition

 
• By 

The PDA has released a statement in response to Superdrug management’s communication with pharmacists, which the body said was “ill informed” and in need of “correction”.


Boots remains tight-lipped over ‘fresh auction’ rumours

 
• By 

Boots parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has remained taciturn amid fresh rumours that it is in talks to “sell itself” to a private equity firm in the new year.

CCA calls for pharmacy BP checks to treble amid GP bid to stop them

 
• By 

The CCA has said there is an “urgent need to scale up” hypertension screening services in pharmacies despite GP leaders voting for these services to be “terminated with immediate effect”.

Coroner: Young man overdosed after receiving double script from P2U and Lloydspharmacy

 
• By 

The inquest of a 22-year-old patient who received his prescription twice due to a “prescribing error” has raised concerns over Pharmacy2U’s “swift dispatch of medication”.


exclusive

PDA ballot could secure Superdrug union recognition ‘by spring’

 
• By 

The PDA has confirmed that a “formal ballot” will take place to secure union recognition at Superdrug – with the vote forecasted to be concluded “by the spring” – after the chain said it is “not willing to recognise the PDA voluntarily”.

Lloydspharmacy: 80 ex-Sainsbury’s pharmacists head to employment tribunal

 
• By 

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is preparing to support some 80 former Sainsbury’s pharmacists who only received statutory redundancy payments after Lloydspharmacy made them redundant in a four-day employment tribunal.

exclusive

Day Lewis launches pharmacist manager ‘co-ownership’ scheme

 
• By 

Day Lewis has announced the launch of a “joint venture scheme” allowing pharmacist managers to become co-owners of their pharmacy.


Boots warns Chancellor budget will cause ‘inevitable’ job losses

 
• By 

Boots has signed a letter to the Chancellor stating that the “sheer scale of new costs” introduced by the budget – including a rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs) and the national living wage – will “make job losses inevitable”.

Boots launches £245 private RSV vaccination service

 
• By 

Boots has launched a private respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination service in 75 stores across the UK for those who aren’t eligible for a free NHS vaccination.

Superdrug agrees to PDA Union’s bargaining unit proposals

 
• By 

The PDA has taken the next step in securing union recognition at Superdrug after the company agreed to its proposed bargaining unit, despite previous reservations.


Rowlands takes over another four Lloydspharmacy hospital branches

 
• By 

The pharmacy chain has taken over the running of four London hospital pharmacies from Lloydspharmacy, a hospital trust has announced.

breaking news

BREAKING: Boots union members ‘overwhelmingly’ vote to merge with PDA

 
• By 

Some 96% of voting Boots Pharmacists’ Association (BPA) members have voted in favour of a merger with the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA).

Asda makes 475 staff redundant amid return-to-office mandate

 
• By 

The supermarket chain has revealed significant cuts to head office roles and new office working requirements amid “challenging” market conditions.


Tesco launches ‘health zone’ pilot to expand pharmacy services

 
• By 

Tesco has announced the launch of a new “dedicated health zone” to expand its pharmacy services such as weight management and provide customers with “easy and convenient” healthcare while they shop.

Rowlands Pharmacy reveals 37 branch sales as losses cut to £38m

 
• By 

“The uncertain future of pharmacy funding” has contributed to the company’s multi-million-pound loss, its annual report has said.

Jhoots Pharmacy branch receives second bailiff visit in six months

 
• By 

A Jhoots Pharmacy branch has been issued a second bailiff notice after it moved from an ex-Lloydspharmacy to a premise previously own by Boots.


breaking news

Boots pharmacists given Dec 5 pensions ombudsman dispute deadline

 
• By 

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has urged Boots pharmacists to submit internal complaints by the start of December so that they are “covered” by any “legally binding final decision” by the ombudsman on pension benefits.

exclusive

‘Less than minimum wage’: Boots offers locum pharmacists £11 an hour ‘in error’

 
• By 

The multiple has “immediately corrected” an advertised locum rate of just £11 an hour, after pharmacists on social media warned that low rates would see pharmacists “coming to a foodbank near you soon”.