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Pharmacists working in primary care networks (PCNs) have raised concerns about the instability of being employed on 12-month fixed-term contracts (FTCs), the Pharmacists’ Defence Organisation (PDA) has reported.
In a recent regional committee meeting, PDA members in the south east of England said they were ‘asking for more job security with longer contracts’ after raising concerns about the ‘short-term nature of funding’ for PCN pharmacists.
Speaking to our sister title The Pharmacist, national officer at the PDA Una O’Farrell said the issue affected PCNs across the whole of England.
She said casework relating to FTCs for PCN pharmacists was increasing, particularly over the last five months.
With uncertainty over funding, particularly for Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) roles, ‘there’s a reticence and a nervousness upon an employer to take on somebody in a full time, permanent position’, Ms O’Farrell suggested.
She added that there was the potential for ‘lots of vulnerabilities’ in the employment process, as some pharmacists are not aware of the implications of an FTC.
She highlighted an example of a member who was unaware they were on an FTC, as well as staff who lost their jobs amid structural reorganisation when their contracts came to an end.
To be told their contract is expiring can ‘come out of the blue’ for many pharmacists, she said.
‘It’s really distressing for those that are affected,’ Ms O’Farrell added. And ‘patients don’t benefit’ from a high turnover of staff, she added. ‘It’s not a good way to provide a health service.’
Last year a Pulse PCN survey found that PCNs were struggling to recruit pharmacists via ARRS. Pharmacists continue to be the most popular of the ARRS roles, with around 5,464 reported as working in PCNs in the latest monthly primary care workforce statistics.
It comes as NHS England revealed there would be changes to ARRS as part of the new 2025/26 contract, with the ringfences around the GP ARRS funding removed.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), fixed-term contracts can be used for employees to work for a specified length of time or to work on a set project.
A fixed-term contract will usually expire automatically, at the end of the term or project, without the need for notice (although some fixed-term contracts also provide for early termination on notice before the expiry of the fixed term).
Employees on a fixed term contract have the right to be treated as favourably as comparable permanent employees, unless the employer ‘can objectively
justify the difference in treatment’.
And if a FTC has been used for two years or more, it can only be terminated for ‘fair’ reasons such as redundancy – if not, an employee may have the right to an unfair dismissal claim.
If you have been continuously employed for four years or more on a series of fixed term contracts, you will be automatically treated as a permanent employee unless your employer can otherwise justify the use of successive fixed-term contracts.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title The Pharmacist
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