COVID fuels notification increase

HEIGHTENED consumer concerns fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic may be a factor in driving an increase in the number of notifications to regulatory bodies, Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) Professional Officer, Gary West, believes.

Speaking during a Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) COVID-19 webinar, West said PDL had received a “huge increase in volume” of calls and reports in recent weeks, alongside a “proportionately higher than normal number of notifications”.

“Some of that could possibly be expected, unfortunately we’re all human and pharmacists do make mistakes and some of these can lead to complaints and notifications,” West said.

“However, the phenomenal volumes that pharmacists have dealt with in the last six to eight weeks hasn’t seen a huge spike in pure dispensing errors, and we’re really pleased to report that generally.

“Where we’re frustrated and a little disappointed [is] to see a significant number of complaints and actions against pharmacists for things that are clearly not a risk to the public.

“There are issues relating to dissatisfaction, to demand that weren’t being satisfied, unreasonable expectations particularly given the supply issues - and also the volumes.”

West urged pharmacists confronted by these situations to step back and think about what underlying drivers are influencing a patient’s behaviour, to minimise confrontation.

He added that pharmacists should document incidents to ensure a record is available should a complaint be made.