Violence in pharmacies to be raised in talks with minister
The President of the Society, Gill Hawksworth, is to raise the problem of violent and abusive incidents in community pharmacies at her next meeting with health minister Rosie Winterton.
Council member Hemant Patel told the April
Council meeting that he was
concerned about an increase in violent and abusive incidents. Abuse had
increased because pharmacists now had to police the declarations on the
backs of prescriptions. Better policing and vigilance in high streets
had displaced crime to secondary shopping parades and other places. Longer
opening hours and a wider range of services made pharmacies more vulnerable.
Mr Patel wished to see the Council taking an interest in the matter and,
if it were agreed, writing to the Minister that zero tolerance of violent
incidents like that should be extended to community pharmacies. At present,
it was restricted to NHS premises.
The President said that she would raise the matter as an important issue
when she next met the minister. It was an extremely important issue in
both primary and secondary care.
Among suggestions from Council members were that the subject be on the
agenda for the next meeting with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating
Committee, the Company Chemists Association and the National Pharmaceutical
Association and that an approach also be made to the Home Office to ensure
that the criminal justice system fully recognised the extent and degree
of exposure faced by community pharmacists.
Letter, p444
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal