To combat increases in hostility, threats and violence directed towards community pharmacists and their teams, police forces in Wales have pledged to provide reassurance and protection to pharmacy staff during the coronavirus pandemic.
This comes after concerns were raised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) following reports of violence and intimidation that members of community pharmacy teams were having to undergo.
Police will be reassuring pharmacists and their teams about the support they can provide to protect staff and pharmacy premises.
Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison, Chair the All Wales Police Gold Commander Group for Covid 19, said police “will robustly deal with those who feel it is acceptable to act in an aggressive way to our pharmacy teams doing such great work at this time.”
RPS Wales Director Elen Jones noted that while “the majority of the public” were “hugely supportive and understanding of the current pressures on pharmacy teams,” RPS Wales felt “it was appropriate” to highlight these concerns to the police “given the nature of the reports from our members.”
Health secretary Wes StreetingPic credit: Gettyimages
Atul Patel
Pritee Panchmatia
