The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7217 p430
28 September 2002

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National Pharmaceutical Association (www.npa.co.uk)

NPA seeks meeting with Minister on violence in community pharmacies

A meeting with John Hutton, Minister for Health, has been sought by the National Pharmaceutical Association to discuss aggression against community pharmacy staff.

The NPA says that although community pharmacists and their staff are not NHS employees, they are among those who work for the NHS who face the greatest threat of violence, because of their ready availability on the high street. The association welcomes a recently announced NHS initiative to tackle violence and harassment of NHS workers and says that it wants to be included in a consultation group of health professionals, along with nurses and general practitioners.

A recent British Retail Consortium survey found that pharmacists and their staff were assaulted more frequently than staff in other high street settings. They suffer 34 attacks per 1,000 staff annually — more than eight times the national average.

"This is a growing problem, requiring some pharmacies to employ full time security staff to protect their premises and staff," John D'Arcy, the NPA chief executive, said. The NPA says that a minority (mainly drug abusers) of the many thousands of people who visit community pharmacies daily pose a threat.