THE PERFECT STORM
When I first heard about violence in pharmacies, I suspected it was overstated, maybe an urban myth.
By Una O’Farrell
be against him if a strong gust of wind came along, I haven’t experienced much in the line of threatening behaviour.
I
However, since hearing accounts from colleagues lately, I now consider myself as lucky. Reports of violence in community pharmacy since the beginning of the pandemic are on the increase.
This ‘perfect storm’ - the depths of winter, economic worries, increased pressure on the system, more fearful patients, staff struggling to adjust to changes in working practice that once seemed an impossibility, restricted GP access... patients and professionals alike are more unravelled than twelve months ago. Patience and nerves are frayed.
Of course there’s a spectrum of aggressive behaviour. Sometimes it’s attributable to the use of language not intended to be offensive but perceived as such (have you ever listened intently to RTÉ radio? You’d never get away their versions
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’ve been practising over twelve years and, bar one unpleasant exchange with a gentleman, who looked like the odds would
of expletives on the BBC!), to expressing levels of frustration by shoving or throwing inanimate objects, to actually placing hands upon someone with intent to injure.
It isn’t new. It is something front-line workers have been encountering for years. As long as we are accessible the risk is alive and well, and we aren’t the only ones.
Michael Bloomfield, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, publicly called for support for workers in June last year. He said, ‘For our staff to face...fear of assault – physical and verbal - when they are trying to provide the best possible care and treatment is disgraceful and I call on all those with influence to condemn it’.
Pharmacists’ Defence Association have produced a comprehensive document called Stopping Violence in The Pharmacy (2017) and have been lobbying all stakeholders for support since. They have also extensive experience of supporting pharmacists who have become victims. The document has been embraced by the police service nationwide.
I’m not convinced all of our professional bodies are fully cognisant of our fundamental right to perform our jobs free of the threat of danger though.
And we need them to be. We need clear guidelines on how to set boundaries of acceptable behaviour and what to do when they are breached - I’m looking at you - Pharmaceutical Society. Risk management templates in the event of aggression or violence - I’m looking at you, CPNI/UCA-NI Ltd. Training modules on how to deal with challenging situations - I’m looking at you NICPLD.
Support for those who have been victims of violent crime in the pharmacy, or consequential malicious referral to the society - I’m looking at you, Pharmacy Forum. Provision of pharmaceutical services to those who can’t be managed safely in community pharmacy settings - I’m looking at you, HSCB.
The above is quite a long wishlist, but, dear Santa, we have been very good, and worked very hard, all year.
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