The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has urged pharmacists to ask their employers to sign the Covid-19 safety pledge, which includes a commitment to ensuring that all workers who test positive for the virus are both asked to self-isolate and given adequate support to stay at home.

The representative body itself has recently signed the pledge, which was developed by Independent SAGE, the Hazards Centre, and a coalition of trade unions.

The PDA said that it was ‘especially important in a healthcare setting where patients may already be at high clinical risk’ that the public ‘know that they will not encounter staff who are carrying the virus’.

But only one pharmacy multiple confirmed to The Pharmacist that it did not allow staff to work in the pharmacy if they tested positive for Covid-19.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said that it was advising its members to follow guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and conduct a risk assessment around patient-facing staff returning to work following a respiratory infection.

And the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) told The Pharmacist that HR and health and safety decisions were left to individual employers.

The Covid-19 safety pledge asks companies to:

  • Pledge to protect its workers, service users, and customers from Covid-19
  • Assess its physical environment and working practices according to health and safety law, including by undertaking risk assessments, in order to ensure that they are designed to safeguard against the spread of infection
  • Abide by best public health advice and ensure that all workers who test positive for Covid-19 are both asked to self-isolate and given adequate support to stay at home

‘It is critical that employers abide by best public health advice, that they urge and support workers to stay at home when infected, and that the public know that they will not encounter staff who are carrying the virus. This is especially important in a healthcare setting where patients may already be at high clinical risk,’ the PDA commented.

‘It makes good public health sense to ensure that all places are properly ventilated and that no one is working while infected. However, it also makes sound economic sense to give the public confidence that they can use these spaces safely.’

Last year, the PDA criticised Well Pharmacy’s policy that it said ‘permits those currently unwell with Covid-19 to work in patient facing roles with clinically vulnerable patients and colleagues, in what should be considered a safe healthcare setting’.

Well Pharmacy could not be reached for comment as to whether its policy remained the same this year.

But a representative from Asda pharmacies confirmed to The Pharmacist that healthcare colleagues must isolate from the pharmacy department if they positive for Covid-19, until they have two negative tests from day five, or are able to return from day 11.

The Pharmacist could not reach representatives from Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, or Rowlands. Morrisons and LloydsPharmacy declined to comment.

Jasmine Shah, head of advice and support services at the NPA, said that it was advising its members to follow UKHSA and HSE guidance  regarding infection prevention and control, and health and safety obligations.

‘A risk assessment should be undertaken before patient-facing healthcare staff who have been off work with symptoms of a respiratory infection return to work, in line with normal return to work processes,’ she added.

And Dr Leyla Hannbeck, AIMp chief executive, said that it was not AIMp’s place to tell its members how to run their businesses.

‘Our members are all long standing, experienced owners and operators of family businesses that have been in their local communities for many decades and they are best placed to make the appropriate legal and HR decisions for their colleagues and patients,’ she told The Pharmacist.

A new Covid-19 variant of concern has recently prompted the acceleration of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme, with additional funding available to pharmacies to begin vaccinating patients from next week.