HSE outlines threats of violence and verbal abuse

THE HEALTH Service Executive has said that a number of threats of violence have been made against locum pharmacists working in the temporary dispensing centres which it has established because of the dispute with community pharmacists over fees.

The HSE said last night that there had also been incidents of verbal abuse against staff working in these facilities. It said that in other cases contact had been made with staff by phone seeking to exert pressure on them.

The HSE said that it had received reports of incidents of intimidation taking place yesterday as well as on Saturday when the current dispute began.

The HSE said last night that the incidents of intimidation had taken place against staff working at temporary dispensing centres in Roscommon, Mayo and Donegal.

The HSE said that in some cases threatening language had been used to staff “suggesting that their safety could be compromised”.

The health authority said that such threats had been made against staff “in more than one location”. However, it has not said precisely where these incidents are alleged to have taken place.

The staff at the centre of the alleged intimidation are locum pharmacists who have been recruited by the HSE to operate the temporary dispensing centres which it has established at various locations around the country to provide some services to patients in areas worst hit by the dispute.

The HSE said that locum staff operating in these centres were from both the Republic and Northern Ireland. It said that there were also some staff from other countries.

The Irish Times reported yesterday that the HSE had made a formal complaint to the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) the regulator for the pharmacy profession, about what it maintained were “serious patient care and professional ethics issues” which took place on Saturday.

A dossier setting out details of the incidents of intimidation was scheduled to be sent by the HSE to the PSI last night or early today.

The HSE also said that in some locations staff had made statements to gardaí about the alleged intimidation.

The Irish Pharmacy Union, which represents community pharmacists, said that it would condemn any intimidation by its members but that it had seen no evidence of any such intimidation.

It also said that the letter of complaint from the HSE to the regulator contained no specific details whatsoever of any alleged incident involving purported bad behaviour by a pharmacist.

The union has also criticised the HSE “for seeking to intimidate pharmacists to remain with the discredited community drug schemes with threats of legal actions and delays in considering any application by pharmacists to re-engage with the drugs schemes”.