The General Pharmaceutical Council has suspended a pharmacist for three months for eight allegations that were proven, including the reuse of medicines returned by patients.
In a remote online hearing held from August 11 to 14, the Fitness to Practise Committee said the other charges against Mukhwaheguru Singh Sidhu (Registration number: 2203887) relate to not keeping proper medicine records, poor storage of controlled drugs, and poor upkeep to measuring equipment in the pharmacy.
Sidhu works as a Responsible Pharmacist at Newline Pharmacy Limited, trading as Coast Road Pharmacy, in Tyne and Wear, and has admitted to six of the eight allegations.
The lapses came to light when a Controlled Drug Liaison Officer visited the pharmacy unannounced on 18 October 2022.
The officer found that the Controlled Drugs registers were not on the premises, and were later retrieved by Sidhu from his home.
The inspection found the registers had not been updated since June 2018. The pharmacy had later reported thirty-five balance errors.
The cabinet for controlled drugs was full, and there were out-of-date medicines that required destruction.
During another inspection, done along with an inspector from GPhC on 18 May, 2023, more lapses in medicine storage came to light.
The pharmacy failed to ensure the safety of multi-compartment compliance packs, which are supplied to patients.
The packs were stored unsealed while awaiting accuracy checks.
The pharmacy did not monitor and record temperatures for all the fridges used and so could not assure that temperature-controlled medicines are always stored appropriately, and failed to ensure measuring equipment used in the dispensary was clean and hygienic.
The officer conducted a follow-up visit to the pharmacy on 30 October 2023 and found no cause for concern with regard to the management of controlled drugs.
Sidhu is currently working as a locum RP for a different branch of the same employer.
He told the Committee that he is recording CDs on time and carrying out the destruction of CDs on the same day or the following day.
A former employee of the pharmacy provided a witness statement, claiming she saw Sidhu remove labels from medication returned by customers and place them back on the shelves.
The witness had worked as a dispenser at Newline Pharmacy from 18 April to 5 August 2022.
She also stated that the contents of unused dosette trays were used to populate newer ones.
The Committee held that Sidhu's conduct fell short of what was to be expected of him as a registered pharmacist.
"All those matters risked causing patient harm and would have been fundamental responsibilities of any pharmacist and particularly a pharmacist in of Sidhu’s position of seniority."
The Committee was satisfied that those matters were serious enough to amount to misconduct.
The Committee does not consider that the suspension needs to be reviewed before its termination, as it has been imposed in the public interest alone.
The suspension will therefore expire at the end of the period of suspension, and then Sidhu will be permitted to return to the register unrestricted, it said.
It concluded that removal, which is reserved for the most serious conduct, would be unduly punitive in this case.
