A new virtual support group aiming to show pharmacy professionals “with a drug and alcohol problem that they’re not alone” has been launched, founding member Bob Dunkley last week (April 8) told C+D.
The new Pharmacy Professionals Recovery Group is open to pharmacy students, pharmacists or pharmacy technicians with substance use disorders and meets on the first Sunday of every month via Zoom, he said.
Read more: ‘Being a pharmacist struggling with addiction needn’t be a lonely place anymore’
The 74-year-old retired pharmacist, who “was dependent on alcohol and codeine”, has built on 10 years’ experience of supporting pharmacists with drug and alcohol problems by launching the group.
“We wouldn’t turn anybody away”
When Dunkley himself sought treatment through charity Pharmacist Support, he met “doctors who were also in treatment and they were really well organised, [so he] thought pharmacists should be like that”.
“I thought I was the only pharmacist in the world who was doing what I was doing, because I didn’t know any more pharmacists who were doing it, [but] the doctors were all connected,” he added.
The idea sparked a decade of financial backing from Pharmacist Support that allowed Dunkley to run a support group for those with substance use disorders – although this was only open to pharmacists and pharmacy students and did not allow self-referral, he said.
Read more: Addicted, struck off, unemployed: one pharmacist’s candid tale of redemption
Now launching the more accessible offshoot, he told C+D that “one of the things that stirred [him] into action was a pharmacist student who was doing his pre-reg training…[who] had a drug habit”.
After being “found out” and facing a fitness-to-practise (FtP) hearing from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), “he didn’t know where to go and he had to make himself deliberately homeless before he could get any help from any agency”, Dunkley said.
“I thought, ‘This is not right; this is one of us - I know he’s not a full pharmacist, but he was a pharmacist student’”, he said.
Read more: Does pharmacy have a drug and alcohol addiction problem?
Dunkley added that the limited reach of the previous group – which members had to be referred to by Pharmacist Support – was “shackling, we wanted to reach more people”.
The new group is open to “anyone in pharmacy who’s going to be registered”, while its Zoom subscription payment is still footed by Pharmacist Support.
Dunkley stressed that while it is “not equipped to cope with anybody with an eating or gambling disorder, we wouldn’t turn them away - they would be welcome to sit in, but we can’t provide the specific help”.
“We hope to put a lifeline out there,” he added.
“Frightened” of the GPhC
Dunkley has found workarounds to the stumbling blocks that might stop those in need reaching out – including a GPhC mandate that pharmacists should report colleagues with substance abuse issues to the regulator, Dunkley told C+D.
“The one thing that all regulated professions are frightened of is the regulator,” he stressed.
To join the group, pharmacy professionals can reach out via email to PharmProfRG@proton.me – an account “only accessible” to Dunkley and fellow member Anne Cawdron, he said.
“We’re both retired pharmacists, so we don’t have any need to report them,” he added.
Read more: Paydens rolls out free ‘drinking check’ across 128 pharmacies
“We make sure that the person understands that we’re not going to say anything, and it’s up to them if they want to say anything to the group,” he said.
As well as helping pharmacy professionals take the first steps in recovery, the group also supports members undergoing GPhC enforcement action.
“Often, pharmacists who are facing an FtP hearing are absolutely terrified because they have no idea what’s going to happen…[but] a number of us had been through FtP and we know the score,” Dunkley said.
Pharmacy professionals who come under scrutiny from the regulator also often find it “impossible” to find work due to supervision conditions, he added.
Read more: Morrisons rolls out free ‘drinking checks’ across pharmacies
“There’s a lot of money being spent on training pharmacists, and this is not a worthwhile use of [existing pharmacists’] talents,” Dunkley told C+D.
“It’s very unusual for some public-spirited pharmacists to come forward [to supervise them], but we are trying to address this,” he said.
Giving talks to local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) to connect willing supervisors and discussing the problem with the GPhC are on the new support group’s to-do list.
“I didn’t know where to turn”
“I used to go out on my tea-break to drink a can of beer in the car – I thought, this isn’t right, [but] I didn’t know where to turn,” Dunkley said, reflecting on his own journey.
“We can turn that around so that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians know that there is a group of people out there who will be able to tell them where to go, what to do, how to get help,” he added.
Read more: Devon pharmacy pilot launched to reduce opioid drug-related deaths
“I want to help the pharmacist out there who’s still struggling…there are pharmacists as we speak who are struggling, wondering where it’s going to end,” he said.
“They don’t have to suffer alone, as I did for a great number of years,” he added.
Contact the Pharmacy Professionals Recovery Group via email at PharmProfRG@proton.me for more information.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can also contact Pharmacist Support by emailing info@pharmacistsupport.org or calling 0808 168 2233/0808 168 5133 for free
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
