With many pharmacies extending their opening hours and the ongoing battle to increase the number of prescription items dispensed daily it is more important than ever to ensure your pharmacist and technicians take the breaks they need and are entitled to. Workplace rest breaks are critical in ensuring that patients, the public and pharmacists are properly protected. The GPhC calls upon the pharmacy profession and employers to demonstrate publicly their support for adequate rest breaks, and to ensure that employers and employees are aware of the risks in pharmacists and pharmacy technicians not taking such breaks. A culture has developed in which pharmacists believe they cannot take proper rest breaks because patients may be denied access to services.
Superintendent pharmacists and pharmacy owners who employ non-pharmacist managers should ensure that they are fully aware of the importance of these workplace rest breaks. The Code of Ethics supports this requirement by stating that pharmacists should ensure that they do not work in conditions that do not enable them to comply with the key responsibilities of a pharmacists. Their prime concern must be for the safety and wellbeing of patients and the public.
A pharmacist’s capacity to undertake his or her professional duties safely for specified periods, without a break, will differ between individuals. It will also depend on various factors such as the tasks being undertaken, the complexity of patients’ needs, the level of trained support staff on duty, prescription volume and the level of over-the-counter business. Pharmacists and their employers should give particular consideration to the provision of appropriate rest breaks for pharmacists who work in extended hours pharmacies, provide on call services or travel long distances to their place of work.
While a pharmacist is taking a break, robust standard operating procedures (SOP’s) should be in place to ensure that no activities take place that require the pharmacist’s personal involvement or oversight. All pharmacy support staff should be aware of these procedures and patients should be advised of when the pharmacist is not available and when he or she is due to return.