As Australia’s first national pharmacy body, PDL (Pharmaceutical Defence Limited) was established in 1912 by pharmacists, for pharmacists. Now, over 110 years on, we are still holistically owned by our pharmacist members and are dedicated to supporting them throughout their professional life. We provide Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance that is tailored to individual pharmacists, confidential around the clock incident support and risk management advice. We support over 32,000 members from across the profession, with cover tailored to meet the evolving needs of members working across an ever-expanding range of pharmacy settings.
Purpose
We are seeking a Professional Officer to provide member support and advice in the event of a medication error, and risk management advisory services for the pharmacy profession.
Ideally the successful applicant will have current or recent experience in community and/or hospital pharmacy.
While member support is the primary focus of the role, experience in representative, educational, or risk management fields would be considered an advantage.
As the role also involves developing and presenting risk management advice across the scope of professional activities and the spectrum of PDL members from students to experienced pharmacists, some experience in resource development and peer communication would be looked upon favourably.
Role
Reporting to the Senior Professional Officer, key internal relationships include the other PDL Professional Officers and staff, State Directors and Local Advisory Committees (LACs). You will provide professional services focusing on:
- Providing member support and advice in the event of a dispensing error or other notifiable event and actioning PDL members’ Notifications of Incidents (NOIs).
- Collating, filing and classifying NOI information and reconciling and reporting upon statistics.
- Risk management and advocacy work for PDL members and the pharmacy profession in consultation with relevant regulatory and other pharmacy organisations.
- Assisting members with regulatory notifications and policy claims in conjunction with the policy underwriter.
- Other duties as required.
Key outcomes
- Effective and valued peer support fostering strong engagement with PDL members in the event of an incident.
- Working towards the minimisation of medication safety errors for the profession nationally.
- Improved risk management outcomes for the pharmacy profession.
- Strong rapport with other relevant pharmacy organisations, insurers and legal practitioners to achieve optimal outcomes for PDL members.
- Contribution to policy development and the way it is applied.
Key responsibilities
- Receive and action PDL members’ Notifications of Incidents (NOIs) in all jurisdictions as agreed.
- Collate, file and classify NOI information in partnership with policy underwriter.
- Review, analyse and report on incident data, and develop strategies to address adverse trends.
- Liaise with LAC members on relevant matters.
- Attend some pharmacy seminars, conferences and student/intern sessions as the PDL representative.
- Provide strategic support and advice to management executives.
- Handle information with discretion and confidentiality.
- May Chair a Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
- Engagement with LACs and State Directors e.g. preparation of data prior to LAC meetings with analysis of incidents and comparisons to national reporting, updates from Directors regarding state-specific issues.
- Assist with developing and presenting targeted submissions, presentations, articles, newsletters, Practice Alerts, webinars and the like to various pharmacy forums in relation to areas of risk and liability.
- Follow up contact with members involved in significant incidents or regulatory notification.
- Liaising with the policy underwriter and their legal providers, providing better insight into outcomes for members involved in regulatory investigation.
- Assisting with management of lower-level regulatory matters and other incident notifications on behalf of the insurer.
- Assessment and review of online reporting processes and member feedback.
Other requirements
- Must hold Ahpra general registration.
- Must reside in Australia.
- Availability for after business hours and weekend support for members, on a roster basis.
- Ability to work effectively within a small, cohesive and geographically dispersed team.
- This role is available for full time or part time (4 days per week) work.
- The role can be performed remotely or from the Melbourne office.
Highly desirable
- Have a strong understanding of pharmacy procedures and regulations.
- Understanding of working in a range of contemporary pharmacy settings.
- Able to demonstrate ability to work independently with suitable time management and organisational skills.
- Technological proficiency in common Microsoft IT systems, such as Dynamics 365, Teams and SharePoint.
- Leadership roles within the profession including previous pharmacy ownership are desirable but not essential.
How to apply
Applications, including a current CV, are to be emailed to the Senior Professional Officer, Gary West, at gary.west@pdl.org.au. For more information or to ask any questions, please email the Senior Professional Officer, Gary West, at gary.west@pdl.org.au or phone 03 9958 0507 (Monday – Thursday).
Applications close Thursday, 1 May 2025
