The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has called upon Morrisons Ltd. to explain why pharmacists in Scotland were reporting that the company would block them from receiving a £500 payment from the Scottish government intended to recognise their contribution during the pandemic.
The Scottish government announced a “Coronavirus: £500 payment for health and social care staff” with the recipients to include Community Pharmacists and others.
At the time of the announcement, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
‘Back in the spring, at the height of the first wave of COVID, many of us publicly – and often loudly – showed our appreciation for the work our NHS and social care staff were doing…The applause was important, but it was never enough. Our appreciation must be shown in a more tangible way.’
However, some pharmacists working at Morrisons in Scotland had reported to the PDA that they had been told that the company would be blocking the £500 payment to individual pharmacists.
Company representatives at Morrisons confirmed, however, that ‘eligible Morrisons colleagues’ would indeed receive the £500 thank you payment from the Scottish Government.
In a statement, a representative at Morrisons made the following comments:
‘We’ve taken another look at the arrangements put in place by the Scottish Government to pay a one off ‘thank you’ to every NHS and social care worker, and can now confirm that we will process these Government payments directly to eligible Morrisons colleagues.
‘We would again like to confirm that we’re incredibly proud of the full part played by all our key workers, who continue to make a truly incredible contribution in these very challenging circumstances.’