Pharmacy workers are facing abusive behaviour as a “daily occurrence”, a recent survey by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has found.
Three quarters of respondents said they were experiencing abuse “at least weekly” and 21% said it was a “daily occurrence”.
CPE highlighted that physical abuse was less common, but was also a “deeply concerning threat”, with 6% of pharmacies reporting “physical assaults in the preceding six months”.
These incidents included “strangulation, pushing, punching, objects being thrown” to “attacks after closing time”.
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Incidents of physical abuse are also “underreported due to fear or reluctance to escalate situations”, with CPE estimating “the true scale of the problem is likely greater”.
The survey also found that “discriminatory abuse, intimidation, and threats of violence” were frequently heard.
Pharmacy owners reported “racist, religious, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and xenophobic abuse”, which would include “personal insults, slurs, belittling comments, and microaggressions”.
These would also often escalate to, “intimidation, stalking, spitting, threats to kill staff or burn down premises, and serious physical violence.”
Inadequate response
CPE added that “community pharmacies do not receive the same level of response
that other parts of the NHS can expect when a serious incident is reported”, whilst also being one of the most “accessible” points of care for patients.
Serious incidents reported included “medicine bottles, chairs, display units, and sharp objects” being thrown at workers, “shelves and counters” being smashed and “doors being kicked in”.
There were also increased reports of “violence linked to shoplifting”.
One pharmacy owner told CPE, “a patient snuck behind the pharmacy counter and strangled the pharmacist.”
“Stronger protections”
Another survey respondent detailed that a pharmacy manager was “assaulted by a patient causing continuing physical injury, time off work [and] two hospital appointments”.
This pharmacist, who had been “serving his community for over 20 years”, had to “take early retirement”.
CPE has “called for stronger protections for pharmacy staff, better coordination between NHS primary care and community pharmacies, and zero tolerance of verbal or physical abuse, threats, or violence of any kind in community pharmacies”.
CPE’s chief executive, Janet Morrison, said “pharmacy teams are the “backbone of community healthcare. They should never face any kind of abuse, racism, discrimination, threats, or violence just for doing their jobs.”
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“These findings reflect escalating abuse in one of the NHS’s most accessible frontline services and they show an urgent need for stronger system-wide protections,” she added.
The National Pharmacy Association’s chief executive Henry Gregg, said: “When pharmacies report these issues to both the police and wider NHS, all too often the response is inadequate.
“Due to their accessible position on the high street, pharmacy teams can often be more exposed to abuse and threats than their colleagues in other healthcare settings.
“We need the NHS to offer pharmacies similar support given to other colleagues in primary care, to protect their staff and their premises.”
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It was announced in February by Dr Zubir Ahmed, the minister for health innovation and safety, that the government intends to introduce real-time medication stock checks for GPs.
This will be introduced to help reduce abuse in pharmacies as medicine shortages of ten mean that community pharmacists are “on the receiving end of that frustration” and “abuse when those medicines aren’t available”.
The NPA warned of a “surge” in crime at pharmacies in August last year, in the wake of a machete attack by a pharmacy in West Yorkshire.
The organisation described at the time that this was part of a rise in “aggressive and intimidating behaviour” towards pharmacy teams.
