‘Side hustle’ slur enrages pharmacy

BRITISH pharmacists are voicing their frustration at a right-wing blogsite’s portrayal of a pharmacist-turned MP’s declaration she is working locum shifts at a pharmacy as a “side hustle”.

In a declaration of employment and earnings, Labour MP, Taiwo Owatemi, revealed she had been working “on an ad hoc basis, as required” at a pharmacy since 05 Jun.

However, the Guido Fawkes site said Owatemi had “admitted to actively selling drugs”, with the post featuring an image of the MP as a character from Breaking Bad.

The Pharmacists’s Defence Association (PDA) noted the blog had attracted mainstream media coverage, with The Times suggesting that the MP’s decision to practise during the COVID-19 pandemic was the “equivalent of a Sat job in a supermarket”.

Responding to the criticism of Owatemi, PDA Chair, Mark Koziol, issued an open letter defending the MP’s decision to locum.

“We know from our peer organisations worldwide that in every national lockdown access to community pharmacies has been at the core of keeping societies operating while tackling this pandemic, by remaining open to patients,” he said.

“Community pharmacies are often in small premises where employees have difficulties in socially distancing, but they have been a front line in the nation’s response, on many occasions providing patients with the medicines they need to stay alive.

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, in a pattern also seen amongst other front line healthcare professions eager to serve the public, several community pharmacists have died during this pandemic from COVID-19.

“There are multiple examples of doctors that become MPs continuing to practice, including some who have served in cabinet, and quite rightly as health professionals they will also have a requirement to keep their practice current.

“However, we cannot recall any of those MPs being criticised for doing so in any form, let alone in the way some of the attacks on Owatemi have been phrased.

“That an MP should continue to practice and care for patients in the middle of a pandemic should be praised, not condemned.”