I’m a pharmacist and I was accused of being a bully

I am a pharmacist and I was accused of being a bully. It was terrible.

I used to work for a small group of pharmacies. I was brought into the pharmacy to support the manager who happened to be a registered pharmacy technician. I was obviously responsible for the professional side of the business. My role was to ensure the laws, ethics and good practice were maintained. But the manager was responsible for rotas and the human resources side.

I had a dispenser who was underperforming to a huge degree. I gave her extra time and support to allow her to develop her practice.

But this did not happen.

When I approached her about her performance, she accused me of bullying and reported me to the person above the manager. Management came and disciplined me.

And I was told not to attempt to do the same thing again.

This person continued with their previous behaviour, to such an extent that it started to compromise patient safety. I felt unable to allow their behaviour to impact on patients so I decided to speak to them again.

The result of this was that I received a phone call from their partner shouting and screaming personal abuse.

Thankfully the dispenser left the pharmacy shortly afterwards to go an work somewhere else. I have since heard that this dispenser has been through several jobs in the short time since.

I felt I could not continue in the pharmacy after the lack of support I received, particularly in light of the fact the I had been told to improve productivity and address underperforming staff.

The situation described here impacted upon me quite considerably. It led to me having several months suffering from depression. I seriously considered leaving the profession as a whole but luckily have found a position which I thoroughly enjoy within in a different sector in pharmacy.

Bullying in pharmacy is terrible but the victims are often not those who you would expect.

The author of this blog wished to remain anonymous.