Mistreatment of pharmacists: Solutions to be highlighted at upcoming OPA conference

Even with the pharmacy profession’s elevated status and the ongoing expansion of scope of practice across Canada, pharmacists face regular harassment and abuse from patients—and many are in workplaces that don’t have formal procedures for dealing with bad patient behaviour.“When you look at the literature, you’ll see there’s been a significant increase in the mistreatment of pharmacists and other healthcare providers—in the U.K., for example, there’s a study that reported up to 75% of pharmacists said they have been abused or experienced aggression by a patient,” said Jamie Kellar, associate dean, academic at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. “There are even anecdotes from some of the studies that talk about people calling pharmacies anonymously, making demands and saying awful things like ‘I hope you get COVID, I hope you die of COVID.’”In Canada, a study this year by the Canadian Pharmacists Association found almost four in 10 pharmacists experienced abuse or harassment from patients at least weekly while two out of 10 said this happens daily.Read: U.K. pharmacists need more support, says Royal Pharmaceutical SocietyIn an online poll conducted recently by Canadian Healthcare Network, close to 45% of respondents said they work in a pharmacy that doesn’t have a formal process in place to handle abusive or aggressive patients. About 20% said they handle these incidents on their own. Kellar plans to tackle the subject of mistreatment of pharmacists—and offer solutions to the problem—at the upcoming Ontario Pharmacists Association RxTalks conference, scheduled for Jan. 19 to 20, 2024 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Kellar is slated to deliver her presentation—which qualifies for a continuing education credit—on the first day of the conference.Effectively addressing the mistreatment of pharmacists starts with their employers, said Kellar.“From an employer perspective, there's a lot that can be done, for example, creating a company policy that states zero tolerance for harassing or abusive behaviour and creating appropriate signage and language that can be placed in pharmacies,” she said. “Being able to have standardized language to address this problem will really help, and it could be something along the lines of ‘Here’s what you can expect from us as your healthcare provider and in return this is what we expect from you.’”Read: CPhA national survey finds 72% of pharmacy professionals considering leaving their job or the profession entirelyLetting patients know, as soon as they enter the pharmacy, that abusive behaviour will not be tolerated can be a strong deterrence, said Kellar.“That won't solve all the problems, but it will go a long way to reminding people that this isn't okay and that they could be asked to leave if they don't behave in a way that's respectful and appropriate,” she said.At the individual level, it’s a good idea for pharmacists to seek training—either on their own or through their employer—on ways to diffuse tense situations.“There are some videos that have been produced, for the healthcare profession specifically, that provide examples of encounters with patient incivility and that give some tips and tools that folks could employ to de-escalate a situation,” said Kellar. “Within the community pharmacy setting there is that unique advantage of pharmacists often getting to know patients over time. So there might be times when you encounter a bad situation and you know that this isn’t normally how this patient acts and you can try to redirect them and see what’s really happening with them. Every situation is different, but if you have some training then you’ll at least be able to apply some best practices that could help.”Read: How well do we protect pharmacy workers from harassment, intimidation and violence?

Mistreatment of pharmacists: Solutions to be highlighted at upcoming OPA conference

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