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Pharmacy: Crimes of Violence

Question for Department of Health and Social Care

UIN 18907, tabled on 15 March 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many incidences of assault have been committed against community pharmacy staff in the last year.

Answered on

21 March 2024

The data related to crime, including assault and theft, in community pharmacies is not held by the Department but could be obtained from individual police departments through Freedom of Information requests. These are matters for the police and criminal justice system. Community pharmacy staff are considered emergency workers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 which provides for increased sentencing powers.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that are commissioned to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services and are legally responsible for the health and safety of their staff.

Pharmacies are by law required to keep controlled drugs, those most likely to be abused or that pose a risk of diversion from a legal supply route, in a locked safe, cabinet or room which is constructed to prevent unauthorised access to the drugs.