Baljinder Singh Kaila, registration number 2041332, was issued a 12-month warning by the GPhC after he made a dispensing error and was later convicted of drink-driving.
In a hearing last week (November 6), the GPhC’s investigating committee heard that Kaila “dispensed an incorrect prescription of methadone” during one of his locum shifts at a Boots Pharmacy in 2023 that was “soon discovered by the patient and corrected”.
According to the determination document, Kaila was then convicted in 2024 of driving a motor vehicle while his “alcohol level [was] above [the] limit”.
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The regulator acknowledged that Kaila “has been working without issue for a significant period of time” and has “provided his reflections demonstrating a good understanding” of how his behaviour “has put patients at risk”.
But it also stressed that Kaila’s conduct “has fallen below the standards expected of a registered pharmacist” and that “harm towards patients, [his] colleagues and [himself]…could have materialised on this occasion had the patient not noticed” the dispensing error.
“Sent home due to concerns”
The committee heard that Kaila worked locum shifts at a Boots Pharmacy on three dates in June and July 2023 and continued “attending his shifts despite being sent home due to concerns from his colleagues and patients”.
It was also told that he was convicted of drink-driving at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court in September 2024.
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The GPhC said that pharmacists “must reflect on concerns and take action to prevent the same thing from happening again”.
And it added that by “choosing to continue attending his shifts” despite colleagues’ and patients’ concerns, Kaila “did not take the proper steps needed to address those concerns”.
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The regulator concluded that a warning is “required to send a clear message to the profession and the public as a whole that such conduct is unacceptable” as it “puts members of the public at risk and undermines confidence in the pharmacy profession”.
And it warned Kaila “that he should…ensure that he does not work as a pharmacist unless he is able to do so safely”.
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He is “further warned not to operate a motor vehicle when under the influence of alcohol” and “ensure that he continues to observe his legal obligations as both a driver and pharmacy professional”, it added.
The warning will remain on the register for 12 months, the GPhC said.
Read the determination in full here.
