Medicine supply chain issues fuelling rise in abuse towards pharmacists in England, report finds

Two-thirds of pharmacy staff in England have experienced aggression from patients amid medicine supply chain issues, a new report has found.

The vast majority of pharmacies (83%) said they had experienced a significant increase in medicine delivery issues, with more than half (51%) of respondents saying drug shortages are a daily occurrence, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), which represents community pharmacies in England said.

England’s community pharmacies played a vital role during the pandemic, including offering Covid vaccines, and are under renewed pressure by worsening rising operating costs and by a workforce crisis.Drug shortages were causing extra workload and stress for staff, while patients were becoming increasingly frustrated and inconvenienced by not being able to get their medication, with 75% of pharmacies reporting abuse from patients as a result, the survey found.

The rising abuse was impacting staff wellbeing, with 49% of pharmacy teams citing patient abuse as one of the main reasons why they are not coping at work.

Staff shortages due to sickness and difficulties recruiting staff or finding locums were forcing some pharmacies to reduce their opening hours and cut back on services or the advice they offer to patients.

The cost of living was also having an effect, with 80% of the 1,000 pharmacy team members asked saying they were finding the costs to run their pharmacies were significantly higher than this time last year.

Janet Morrison, PSNC CEO, said the government "must take heed of these findings and work with us to urgently address the causes".

“The results of PSNC’s Pressures Survey make distressing reading for anybody in the sector - they tell a story of teams under immense pressures, and of businesses at crisis point. Pharmacy teams will do everything to ensure that patients get what they need, so it is particularly worrying to see the impact that pressures are starting to have on patients and the public as well," she said.

"We must take these findings as the warning signal that they are: the pressures on community pharmacies – coming from a combination of workload, workforce and financial factors – are simply unreasonable, and unsustainable."

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The figures come amid rising concern over shortages of some medication.

Last week, experts warned the shortage of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) medication was going to lead to more women being absent from work. There is a huge shortage of some HRT products, notably a gel called Oestrogel, with pharmacies having to turn women away with prescriptions.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “There is zero tolerance of violence or abuse directed at healthcare staff who have devoted so much to protect patients during the pandemic and deserve to work in a safe and secure environment free from assault or harassment.“The department has well established procedures to deal with medicine shortages and works closely with the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS to minimise disruption on the few occasions they arise.”