PDA to act on violence in pharmacy

Recent findings in Northern Ireland have shown that investment in security measures in community pharmacies can reduce the incidence of violence to virtually zero. The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has received anecdotal reports from pharmacists that some employers are not taking the concerns of their employees and locums in relation to violence in the pharmacy seriously and are not implementing appropriate security measures. Consequently, the PDA has launched a survey to assess the scale of the problem.

According to Mark Koziol, the PDA Director ;

"Whilst it is the responsibility of all in pharmacy to do whatever they can to ensure that the working environment is as safe as possible, it is primarily the responsibility of the employers to ensure the safety of all their staff. Many employers have put some highly effective security measures in place to protect their staff, but it would appear that some have not, despite concerns being expressed by their staff. We want to assess the scale of the problem and are committed to dealing with lapses of duty of care by employers in relation to their employees."

Moves by PDA to tackle this issue follow hot on the heals of a recent landmark case (Simmons vs British Steel plc House of Lords April 29th) where an employer neglected to act on the concerns of an employee about safety issues and subsequently the employee sustained an injury and psychological trauma. The employee was awarded nearly £500,000 in compennsation. It is the view of PDA that this case will have implications for pharmacy employers. It is the intention of the PDA to use the results of the questionnaire to lobby the relevant authorities to help develop a programme to improve the safety of staff in pharmacies.

Mark Koziol continued ;

"Most employers will take the concerns of their staff in relation to violence and safety in the work place seriously, moreover, in light of the recent landmark case the consequences of not doing so can be quite severe. If a pharmacist reports a concern to an employer and the employer has ignored it, then we want to know about it."

He urged pharmacists to complete the Violence in Pharmacy questionnaire which can be found on the PDA website www.the-pda.org

ENDS