Adam Ahmed Patel, registration number 2045024, has received a 12-month suspension after he “intentionally removed approximately 10 – 15 packs of codeine” from the Boots pharmacy where he worked, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has revealed.
In a remote hearing on June 18-20 and September 16, an FtP committee heard that he had also “accessed the store outside of trading hours, without authorisation, and amended pharmacy records” by adding the initials of other staff “without their permission”.
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According to the hearing documents, Patel was also found on other occasions to have “knowingly [given] excessive quantities of co-codamol” to a patient “without assurance that there was a legitimate medical need for it”.
The regulator accepted his “exemplary record over 25 years”, which was evidenced by the fact he was “Boots pharmacist of the year on two occasions” and was hailed “a hero” for helping to save the lives of two people “in a matter of months” during the pandemic.
And it acknowledged that he had “admitted all particulars” of the allegations against him.
But it stressed that he was “in a position of seniority” at the time of the allegations and was employed as both “a responsible pharmacist and a manager” and as such, his actions were “dishonest”.
“Altered” stock records
Patel had been working at a Boots chemist in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, for over eight years when computer records in 2023 showed there was a “discrepancy” – of over 4,300 tablets – “between the amount of codeine ordered and the quantities either supplied or retained in stock”, the document said.
An investigation was carried out and it was discovered that Patel had entered the pharmacy “outside business hours and altered the stock records” to show that “other members of staff had wiped off the medication that was not accounted for”, it added.
According to the records, he had done this “on 14 occasions in respect of 2,430 tablets of codeine”, the council heard.
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Patel was interviewed on two different dates and admitted in April 2023 that he had “taken codeine from the pharmacy” on “many occasions” and had “[altered] stock records after work hours and days when the pharmacy was closed”, the document said.
He confirmed that he had “used colleagues’ initials” in the stock recording system but “didn’t know why he had done that”, it added.
Patel also admitted “supplying additional tablets of co-codomol to a patient who requested more than the quantities recommended by her doctor” and acknowledged that he knew “she was addicted”, it said.
“Charitable act”
He told the council that he did this to “prevent” the patient from “going to other pharmacies in a way that would only increase the amount she took”, it continued.
He described how he “supplied the patient with four packs on occasions by putting them through the till as two separate transactions because two packs were the most he could sell at one time”, the regulator heard.
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And following another employee telling the investigator that Patel sometimes “sold goods more cheaply” to patients using his discount card, he admitted using it for goods such as dressings for “customers who had difficulty paying”, the document said.
Patel said, however, that he only recalled using his discount card “on one occasion” and did so as a “charitable act” when a “young mother had been unable to afford items including milk nappies and wipes for her baby”, it added.
“Repeated and dishonest” behaviour
The regulator accepted that Patel had a “genuinely distinguished career before his misconduct in this case” and that he “immediately confessed to his misconduct and explained that he and he alone was responsible, as soon as it became apparent to him that others might be blamed”.
And it noted he was “well regarded by colleagues, patients and the public”.
It also acknowledged that when he “gave excessive quantities” of co-codamol to a patient, he was doing so with “good intentions”.
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But the council stressed that Patel’s actions were “repeated and dishonest” and “implicated his staff members in his conduct in circumstances when he was their manager”.
It added that in relation to providing the “excessive quantities” of co-codamol, his actions caused “actual or potential harm to a vulnerable patient”.
The GPhC determined that Patel’s misconduct “fell just short of being fundamentally incompatible with his continued registration”.
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It concluded that he should be “suspended for a period of 12 months” to “mark the seriousness of his misconduct “.
Read the determination in full here.
