Shane Dixon, registration number 5100734, was removed from the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) register after it found “no evidence” of remediation following two previous suspensions for using a slur against an autistic colleague.
At a review hearing on September 2, the GPhC’s fitness-to-practise committee heard that Dixon “on one or more occasions made discriminatory comments and demonstrated bullying behaviour” towards his colleague, including the use of a slur.
At the principal hearing, the regulator accepted that Dixon was otherwise said to be a “competent technician” and that the misconduct occurred “some years ago”.
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But it stressed that he “brought the profession of pharmacy into disrepute” and there “remained a risk that he could repeat his misconduct”.
Dixon did not attend the principal hearing last October, nor either of the two review hearings in March and September.
His last correspondence to the council was an email sent in April 2023, informing the regulator that he was starting a new job “outside the world of pharmacy” and was “considering leaving the GPhC register”.
Breached standards
At the principal hearing, the GPhC noted Dixon’s earlier responses to the allegation, including that he did “not recall” ever using the slur and did not “believe [he] would have done so repeatedly and in front of other staff members”.
He also said he had enjoyed a “good relationship” with the colleague until he believed the colleague was told that Dixon had “implicated him in an incident of graffiti”.
Dixon believed his colleague had been “turned against him” since then and that parts of his statement were “completely fabricated”.
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The regulator heard that Dixon’s colleague was “upset by the comments” and had made a complaint to his manager.
It acknowledged Dixon’s personal “struggles”, which were redacted in the hearing document, as well as evidence of a “poor workplace culture”, but noted that neither factor “excused his conduct”.
And it found that Dixon’s conduct breached the regulator’s standards on professionalism and leadership.
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The principal hearing committee was of the view that Dixon’s conduct “was capable of being addressed” and noted that some parts of his written responses “suggested a degree of insight into the seriousness of the allegation”.
It found that he had taken “responsibility for his negative behaviour generally and its effect on colleagues”.
But it said it “could not be sure” that Dixon “understands the seriousness of his misconduct” and its impact on his colleague and the profession more widely.
“Remained impaired”
The principal hearing committee considered that a future review would give Dixon a chance to “demonstrate that there is no longer a risk that might repeat his conduct at work in future”.
But at the March review, the GPhC “found that the registrant’s fitness to practise remained impaired”.
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Dixon had not been in contact with the GPhC in the intervening months and had “done nothing to discharge the persuasive burden on him to demonstrate that he had addressed the principal hearing committee’s concerns or remediated his misconduct sufficiently, or indeed at all”, the March committee found.
It issued a “further period of suspension for six months”, which it said “should be ample time” for Dixon to “re-engage with the council and take steps to demonstrate that he had remediated his misconduct”.
“Complete lack of engagement”
But at September’s review hearing, the GPhC found that Dixon had “again done nothing” to demonstrate that he had remediated his misconduct.
“This committee, like the previous committees, has no evidence that he has attended any training and he has not supplied any testimonials or references,” the hearing document said.
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The regulator noted a “complete lack of engagement” with the regulatory proceedings and said it had “no option but to find that the registrant’s fitness to practise remains impaired”.
The committee concluded that a further suspension “would serve no purpose” and that “the time had now come” to remove Dixon from the register.
Read the determination in full here.
