Pharmacist’s Fitness to Practise Impaired Due to Inappropriate Conduct During EHC Consultation

Allegations:
The case centred on the conduct of a locum pharmacist during an Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) consultation with Patient A in October 2017. It was alleged that during this private consultation, the pharmacist inappropriately touched the patient’s breasts, requested she remove her dress, and placed his hands up her dress to examine her groin area. Additionally, it was alleged that he allowed her to leave the pharmacy with EHC without observing her take the medication, in contravention of local policies requiring supervised administration. The core allegation was that these actions were sexually motivated, constituting a serious breach of professional and ethical standards.

Findings:
The panel found Patient A to be a consistent, credible, and reliable witness. Her account remained materially unchanged from the initial complaint to the hearing, and she gave clear testimony about the sequence of events. Her decision to return to the pharmacy the next day to make a complaint added to her credibility. In contrast, the registrant’s account was deemed inconsistent. He initially failed to recall creating an electronic patient record, only later asserting its existence mid-hearing. When the record was retrieved, it lacked the clinical detail he claimed to have documented (e.g., swollen armpits).

While the registrant claimed the physical contact was a response to the patient’s own request regarding armpit swelling, the panel found this explanation implausible given the absence of any such documentation or prior mention. Further undermining the registrant’s reliability were discrepancies in his layout diagram of the consultation room and his rationale for discussing breast cancer risks associated with EHC, which were unsupported by current evidence or guidance.