THROUGH bushfires, drought, floods and COVID-19 pharmacists have gone above and beyond for their communities, and do not deserve to be subjected to threatening behaviour, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Executive Director, Suzanne Greenwood, believes.
Writing the Guild's Forefront newsletter, Greenwood described video footage of a violent incident at a pharmacy in Auburn, NSW (PD 21 Oct), as "shocking and disturbing", as a patient hit a perspex sneeze guard, knocking it over on top of pharmacist, Ahmed Ouf.
"This year has highlighted the lengths that community pharmacies go to in order to help the communities they serve," she said.
"With drought, bushfires, floods and COVID-19, the pressure on pharmacists has been relentless but the sector has never faltered in its commitment to do the best for patients.
"This is reflected in the fact that across Australia, thousands of community pharmacies have remained open to serve patients and dispense vital medicines and health services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Pharmacies have gone above and beyond to serve patients because they are connected to their communities and committed to the health needs of their patients.
"They have remodelled their pharmacies to ensure the safety of staff and patients and this commitment to their critical primary healthcare role makes it all the more disturbing to see an attack such as occurred this week in Sydney."
Greenwood noted that while the majority of patients behave appropriately in pharmacies, the encounter in the suburban Sydney store was "not an isolated incident".
"Quite clearly, community pharmacists providing medicines and advice to patients across Australia deserve to be treated with respect," she said.
"They should not -- and must not -- be subjected to abusive behaviour from any patients.
"At the Guild, we stress that pharmacists and pharmacy staff must not be expected to endure aggression and threatening abuse from a tiny minority of Australians who are engaging in this behaviour.
"The safety and wellbeing of our staff and other patients is paramount.
"Fortunately, most patients know the value and quality of their local pharmacy and respect their pharmacist and pharmacy staff."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 22 Oct 20
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 22 Oct 20
