The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7375 p607
12 November 2005

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· Adverse reactions
· Drug interactions (2)
· Packaging
· GHP (2)
· Pricing
· Clinical governance
· The profession
· Pharmacy workforce
· Communication
· Registration

Letters to the Editor

The profession

No blame culture — nothing but an illusion

From Mr P. Walton, MRPharmS

I vehemently disagree with Harvey Lockie (PJ, 22 October, p510). Although Dame Janet Smith may be correct in asserting that a culture similar to that found in the aviation industry might be helpful in the health professions, it was her actions in ascribing blame to individuals in the Shipman case that would, perversely, encourage professionals not to “whistleblow”. Community pharmacists have no way of knowing the normal use of diamorphine in the cloistered environment in which they work; different pharmacies see entirely different drug profile use with each GP, and pharmacies keep stock according to the prescribing habits of their local GPs.

I have been in the pharmacy profession for over 20 years and have never witnessed a blame culture as blatant and unfair as we have now. Professionals do not “whistleblow” because of the effect of people in authority who, when things go wrong, ascribe blame to individuals. Until the blame culture disappears there will be a problem of under-reporting of incidents. The unfair blame culture reached the highest echelons of the pharmacy profession in the blame, and prosecution for manslaughter, of a trainee in the peppermint water incident (PJ, 11 March 2000, p390). It was merely continued by Dame Janet Smith in the Shipman inquiry. The no blame or fair blame culture has, in practice, been shown to be nothing but an illusion.

Philip Walton
Manchester

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