Behind bars

Had a couple of interesting comments from you regarding the patient we recently barred from using the pharmacy (see Taking a Tough Line).

One comment asks if we can actually do this within our terms of service, and another suggests that we can as long as we direct the patient to an alternative source of pharmaceutical services (there is another pharmacy a few doors along from us).

Well I’ve had a look at the online NPA Information Database for advice and it states that ‘the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 now mean that a pharmacist may decline the supply of a medicine in certain circumstances’, with one of these circumstances being where ‘the pharmacist or other persons on the premises are subjected to or threatened with violence by the person presenting the prescription form’.

It also states in the Medicines, Ethics and Practice Guide (albeit in the section concerning services to drug misusers) that ‘pharmacists may decline to provide a service to a patient whose conduct is unacceptable’.

So hopefully that helps to clarify things. I appreciate the comments that have been fed to me on this.