VIOLENCE StatEmENt fROm thE UlStER


“There is no way of stopping incidents like


this happening, but we can look at our security and try to minimise risk”


chEmIStS' aSSOcIatION (Uca) the department of health are currently proposing changes to the Pharmaceutical Services Regulations (NI) 1997 which sets out the terms of service for pharmacy contractors which outline the framework for the delivery of community pharmacy services.


the department is proposing to amend these terms of service to clarify that community pharmacy contractors will not be in breach of the terms of service if they or their staff refuse to provide pharmaceutical services to a person who is violent, threatens violence, commits or threatens to commit a criminal offence.


the Uca welcomes this demonstration of support from the department of health for a sector that is in the frontline of health provision and is very often seen as a soft target for violent robbers as well as receiving verbal or physical abuse from members of the public.


have definitely become more aware and alert to addicts, but, as I say, what can you really do? Pharmacists are, unfortunately, in the firing line.


‘to add to the mix, we are on a busy road. I would say that the incident has made us and other pharmacists in the locality more vigilant. while this is the first time in fourteen and a half years that I've ever experienced anything like this, I have to say that the incident has definitely made me more apprehensive at opening and closing times and I now make sure that someone else is with me at those time, whereas before I would have been quite happy to do open and close by myself. It is, unfortunately, a sign of the times...'


woman was approached by two men who told her to get out of her car, in which they then drove off. a short time later, the man entered mcmullans with a suspected firearm and demanded the drugs.


despite the horrific incident, which left the staff traumatised, pharmacy manager, john hamill, says that they haven't changed anything in terms of staff practice but have upgraded the security system.


'let's face it', john told Pif, 'what can we really do? we have upgraded the security system to ensure that the police etc have quicker access to info,


but the basic fact is that there's nothing that we, as pharmacists, can really do.


'two of our female staff were very badly shaken by the experience. after all, the man who entered the premises - who was an addict - asked the staff for diazepam and benzodiazapine and dihydrocodeine and pointed a gun at them as he did so. this has to be the highest level of threat that anyone can face. Ironically, as he was leaving, he apologised to them!


'Since this incident, while we've only upgraded our security system, we


In february 2015, Uca President, cliff mcElhinney's own pharmacy - Urban Pharmacy on Belfast's dublin Road - was held up by glaswegian derek Brockwell, who got away with about £60. Brockwell was arrested at a pub around 200 yards away later in the evening and held on suspicion of the crime. while the robbery wasn't drug related, cliff is only too aware of the effect of such attacks on staff.


'No-one was physically injured,' says cliff, 'but obviously the two members of staff directly involved, plus the other members of staff who were in the shop and aware of what was going were obviously visibly shaken.'


‘after the incident and the press coverage, which showed how dangerous this man could have been, there was a realisation in the pharmacy that staff had had a very close call and we had been very lucky indeed that no-one was hurt. I have


to commend the PSNI and their response to the incident and support for staff afterwards. the young male member of staff who had the knife held to his back was back at work the next evening and very keen to put the incident behind him and get on with work as normal. the pharmacist involved certainly felt more vulnerable after the attack and felt on high alert for some time afterwards. this is still ongoing as the case now continues through the courts.


‘there is no way of stopping incidents like this happening. we can only look at our security and try to minimise risk. we now keep very little cash in our tills and opening and closing procedures now involve all members of staff. Staff have now been made more aware of how to deal with this situation, but, in reality, until you are faced with this set of circumstances you have no idea how you will deal with it.


‘In store we continue to look at staff rotas to minimise risk to staff and customers (we’ve also had a customer attacked in store), but we are open twelve hours a day and we have to balance security measures against access to services.


‘Pharmacy prides itself on easy patient access and we don’t want to lose that at Urban. It is, unfortunately, one of the hazards of working in retail pharmacy. we will continue to be vulnerable to this sort of attack, but continued funding cuts mean that we increasingly lack the tools to completely make ourselves secure.’ •


PhaRmacy IN fOcUS - 13


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