Violence risk in pharmacies needs assessing
All pharmacies should have to assess the risk of violence towards staff and make their findings available to workers.
That is the view of the Pharmacists Defence Association, set out in a
policy document launched last weekend at its annual
conference in Birmingham (see p279). The policy is accompanied by a resource pack to help pharmacy
employers and their staff carry out the assessments. Announcing the policy,
PDA advisory board member Shenaz Patel said: “Every day there are
three violent attacks on pharmacists.” She added that pharmacists
are subject to violence, threats or abuse every two hours.
The PDA wants the Government to pay for increased security measures in
pharmacies. It also wants the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to amend its
Code of Ethics so that there is a clear professional requirement on pharmacy
owners, superintendent pharmacists and hospital pharmacy managers to
ensure the safety of their staff. David Pruce, the Society’s director
of practice and quality improvement, said: “We will be considering
the PDA proposals carefully.” |
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