Boots has responded to the General Pharmaceutical Council's (GPhC) "programme of work" to tackle pharmacists' workplace pressures.

The GPhC said yesterday (June 15) that it will host an event in October to “address the issues raised” by a Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) survey (see below) which revealed concerns about how target pressure at Boots in particular compromises patient safety.

It will also meet with pharmacy owners to hear how they “support their staff to do the right thing in the first place”, it said. The regulator stressed that it will not focus exclusively on any one company.

An "important subject"

Boots' chief pharmacist Marc Donovan told C+D today (June 16) that it "welcomes" the GPhC's "intervention and approach to this important subject".

"At Boots we are, and always have been, committed to developing the future of community pharmacy and promoting the professional autonomy of pharmacists," he stressed. 

The multiple will "support and participate fully in the inquiry alongside all other invited participants", he added.

PDA survey

The PDA's survey revealed that 55% of just under 2,000 employee and locum pharmacists at the multiples feel commercial incentives or targets compromise patient safety or professional judgement "around half" of the time or more.

Results from the survey were quoted by the Guardian in April, which alleged that some Boots managers had instructed staff to carry out unnecessary medicines use reviews (MURs).

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