Key Summary
- Pharmacists should call police and can refuse service if abused
- CPE, GPhC and RPS stress duty of care and offer support
- Abuse is rising, and CPE is taking steps to measure and address it
The Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has come up with guidelines for community pharmacy owners and their teams if they face abuse from patients and others.
The CPE wants pharmacists to immediately contact the police if they face any form of abuse.
The pharmacists can refuse to dispense as pharmacy regulations permit this if a pharmacy owner or their staff (or other people at the premises) are threatened with or subject to violence or other criminal behaviour.
Get in touch with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC), who may be able to assist in handling the situation.
The CPE guidelines is in response to the 2025 Patient Survey, which shows that patient abuse was one of the major concerns.
It advised pharmacy owners and staff not to take such matters lying down.
The CPE pointed out that the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has also reminded employers of their duty of care to keep their staff safe at work.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society also provides guidance on tackling such difficult situations, it added.
The CPE has published posters highlighting the importance of kindness and respect for the pharmacy teams, and assured to work more towards ensuring the safety of pharmacy professionals.
The recent conference of LPC representatives had raised the issue of abuse of pharmacy staff, and CPE plans to “further quantify the extent to which pharmacy teams encounter abuse from patients and the public” in their next pre-committee polling, opening next week.
