Heather Bellamy spoke with Ciaran Kelly, the Head of Communications at the Christian Institute, about the importance of reasonable accommodation in balancing people's rights, and how after consultation, the General Pharmaceutical Council have chosen to continue to value their pharmacists faith and conscience, as well as patient care.

Ciaran: It more or less maintains the status quo. There are subtle changes here and there, but the primary thing is that where Christian pharmacies had the right to refer on grounds of conscience, in a situation where they might be being asked for the morning after pill as a for instance, they can refer to another pharmacist. That was the case before and that will still be the case. It was that referral which was at risk of being changed by these rather murky changes in the guidance.

Heather: How strong is this position now? Is it likely to change again in the future?

Ciaran: Who can say? It could change in the future, in which case we will have to look at any of those proposals at the time. But there were some positive things in this as well. The Council made positive references to the significance of faith, religion and beliefs in the lives of pharmacists and the lives of the professionals, and the positive effect that that can have on, let's call it patient care. So that's good and really welcome. It's a welcome thing that they recognise that faith can have a positive effect in the work place.

Heather: Had they been looking to bring changes because there had been complaints, or difficulties in patient care? Or were they trying to deal with a problem that wasn't actually there in the first place?

Ciaran: Some concerns had been raised by secularists and humanists, who said you're basically allowing people some sort of get out clause to not do their jobs, but that was never really the case. So I think the concerns were over stated. I mean, it's right for the General Pharmaceutical Council to listen to stakeholders, whether Christian or non-Christian, and to take on board the feedback that they receive. And that's what they did and they've taken on feedback from all sides in coming to the decision that they have done.

Heather: Why has the General Pharmaceutical Council, as an employer, decided that it is possible to respect the conscience of Christians and others in a work setting in this reasonable accommodation idea, but other employers believe that they can't? Yet all employers would operate under the same equality law.

Ciaran: The General Pharmaceutical Council's changes were in their guidance and that's unique to them. But the idea of reasonable accommodation is in place pretty much throughout the legal system. It's never entirely unqualified; people need to still conduct their roles in a proper fashion. In most instances employers are required to look at how to reasonably accommodate the views and beliefs, and often religious beliefs, of their employees. That doesn't mean they have to do everything, but it means what it says, that there's a reasonable accommodation made between the two parties, and that applies quite widely.

Heather: Will this turnaround have any impact on any other employers and how they handle equality law in the workplace? Or is it just isolated for the Pharmaceutical Council?

Ciaran: I think for now we should assume that it's isolated to the GPhC. But because it is positive, because there's been some good coverage of it, I think that's a positive thing, so other employers may take note. This is a significant group that's taken this on board. It's significant that they have been able to recognise the importance of people's faith. So that might cause one or two employers to take stock and ask themselves well, if they can do it, perhaps there is a bit more that we can do.