The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) yesterday (August 7) called on pharmacy owners to “urgently consider” measures that could “reduce the risk” faced by pharmacy staff and keep them “safe at work” amid far-right rioting in England.

GPhC chief pharmacy officer Roz Gittins said that the regulator condemns “the racism, violence and disorder” experienced by the country in recent days, perpetrated by a “small minority”.

She added that pharmacy workers should “never have to feel fear when going to work”, noting that they “may feel especially vulnerable at this time”.

Read more: ‘It was awful’: Southport pharmacies ‘closed to public’ due to riots

Gittins urged contractors and employers to ensure staff are not made to work alone and to empower responsible pharmacists to temporarily close a pharmacy if faced with “potential risks to the safety of the pharmacy staff” or patients.

“We call on employers to do what they can to reassure their staff and highlight the support available to help staff to protect their health and wellbeing at this very difficult time,” she said.

“Any abuse, violence or racism towards pharmacy staff is completely unacceptable, and should be reported to the police,” she added.

 

Racist slurs and fear at work

 

Pharmacists have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share their feelings of insecurity in response to the rioting.

Pharmacist Jaya Pathak yesterday (August 7) said that she had been called a racist slur by a patient.

“[The patient] told me she didn’t want me to serve her since I didn’t respond to her question asking what religion I am - nothing life-threatening, so yes I turned her away,” she added.

Read more: How I coped when… my pharmacy was looted in the riots

And pharmacist contractor Rifat Asghar-Hussain said that she felt “frightened at work” for “the first time” in her career.

In another X post she revealed that her child had asked her not to go into the city centre due to the “danger”.

She called on pharmacy organisations to “call a spade a spade” and condemn the public violence as Islamophobia.

Read more: Tribunal: Boots pharmacist faced racial harassment and unfair dismissal

Another pharmacist contractor Waqas Ahmad yesterday said that other healthcare colleagues were fearing for their safety - a first in his 20-year career.

“No one should be afraid!” he added.

And GP pharmacist Siddiqur Rahman asked if he was “British enough to appease the current baying mob” as he called out the waves of “blatant racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia”.

Read more: Pharmacies to sound alarms in unison in September protest

Earlier this week, C+D spoke exclusively to pharmacy teams in Southport, where the first wave of far-right riots broke out following a knife attack at a dance school in which three young girls were killed.

CarePlus Chemist & Health Clinic told C+D that it had “closed to the public” because the team were not “comfortable with people coming in”, while another pharmacy also closed as a precaution.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact Pharmacist Support by emailing [email protected] or calling 0808 168 2233/0808 168 5133 for free