In an email sent to Morrisons’ locums and seen by C+D, the supermarket said that locum pharmacists “will not be able to cancel any shifts” during December and January “to avoid any operational disruption”, unless the shifts are backfilled.

Each locum will also be responsible for finding a replacement pharmacist to cover their shift. Any replacement locum must be “approved by Morrisons” and work “for the same rate of pay”, the email sent on Monday (November 14) read.

A number of pharmacists took to Twitter to raise concerns over the “condescending” and “insulting” nature of the email.

Pharmacy manager Bilal Hussain said it is “extremely unsafe to pressure pharmacists to work when ill”, while Aisha Adnan, a ‎pharmacist at Sovereign Specials tweeted: “Most pharmacists find a replacement locum as a courtesy if they want time off.”

Morrisons said on Twitter on Tuesday (November 15) that it was “investigating” the incident.

Morrisons responds

A spokesperson for the supermarket told C+D yesterday (November 16): “Christmas is a really busy period and it can be difficult to get cover. We were trying to make sure that customers always had access to a pharmacist during this time.”

Morrisons would “never expect any pharmacist to work if they felt unfit to do so," the spokesperson added. “We would also not put pressure on any pharmacist to ‘backfill’ their missed shift, if unwell.”

It said the supermarket chain would be contacting its locums to “make this clear”.

C+D understands that one locum has raised a complaint with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). The regulator told C+D today (November 17) that it does not comment on individual concerns.