To think if a pharmacist refuses to dispense medication due to religious or personal beliefs

[Soubriquet]

They shouldn’t be a pharmacist.

I mean, the morning after pill is healthcare. Your personal or religious beliefs shouldn’t come into this.

@veilstone 🙄🙄 if your supermarket job says you can optional provide cover in the alcohol aisle, are you then not doing your job if you choose not to?

That is shocking and IMO she shouldn’t be a Pharmacist! Imagine working in a restaurant then refusing to serve people alcohol because of religion. It just wouldn’t happen.

Yes I'm aware that they are allowed to be exempted, I just don't think they should.

I agree.
And it needs to be remembered that it is not only gynaecologists. Anaesthetists and theatre staff may also object to participating in surgical abortions on ethical grounds and this is likely to represent a tiny part of their job, especially these days.It would be ridiculous to tell them that they can't be in that profession because of it or to force someone to act against their core beliefs.
I've been the rota master for a number of anaesthetic departments during my career and it's not generally a difficult thing to manage, you just allocate someone else. I have never known an abortion to be cancelled in any hospital where I have worked as a result of staff being unwilling to do it. It can generally be planned for and if something unexoected happens people generally just swap duties. In theory it may seem like a problem, but in my experience at least, it seldom is in practice (in England - I've never worked elsewhere.)

If you joined in good faith, under an explicit policy that gave specific opt outs (that have not changed or crept) and have done exactly the job you are contracted for, then no I don't think someone should be sacked or disbarred.

If the policy is to be abolished, then it is probably better to abolish it for all those qualifying or arriving in the country after a certain date. Managing even a small exodus would be problematic because of demographic trends and staff shortages (planned age retirement is already causing headaches in some fields - notably GPs and pharmacists - so it wouldn't take much of an increase in early retirements to cause conspicuous problems - "grandfathering" avoids that)

Well, I wasn't impressed that my DD had to tell me that she'd been prescribed the Pill but the pharmacist attached to the GP practice refused to dispense it to her because she was under 18 and it was 'against his beliefs'. She was competent to make that decision, the GP had agreed and prescribed it and frankly, the alternative that could have happened if she'd felt unable to tell me was far, far worse, never mind for those who are at actual risk of physical harm from their parents if they were found to be pregnant/sexually active/a victim of sexual abuse or rape. But his beliefs could have destroyed the lives and posed very real risks to any number of teenagers. She should have been able to fill that prescription unchallenged and kept her medical matters confidential, not be forced to tell me - the fact that I supported her is neither here nor there; she had the right to make decisions regarding her own health and her reproductive choices without being forced to give up that right to give somebody else a warm glow of superiority.

Still anecdata - but at least I'm talking from the position of direct experience, not a friend of a friend.

You have chosen to live in that town. A pharmacist may well have qualified long before the rules on dispensing of MAPs changed. So should they just pack in their job, or should they be forced to do something that goes against their protected beliefs?
I the law in education were to be changed to make it compulsory to teach children that gender identity is more important than sex, should all of us teachers who do not believe this be forced to teach it? What about critical race theory? Or communism?
There are many things that we have the legal right to not be compelled to do. That should remain the case.

I’ve met many nurses, doctors, surgeons and anaestitists whose beliefs mean that they refer patients who need this care to other colleagues.

Pharmacist here.

The GPhC does allow pharmacists to refuse certain services based on religious beliefs. I am unsure how I feel about this, I hate that women's health is compromised by an individual's personal belief but I also think forcing healthcare professionals to make choices they are uncomfortable with is a slippery slope.

However if they refuse a certain service they should signpost you to the nearest available service provider who can meet your needs.

They must also refuse in a non judgemental and professional manner.

I've sadly heard very uncomfortable patient testimonies (often when I am the second or third pharmacist they have tried) of these two caveats not being met. It's not good enough.

We had a catholic nun as a pharmacist a few years ago ( never heard of this before and I’m catholic) refused to give me the pill ( it’s for my periods and I’m a lesbian anyway) she refused to give it me but did get another one to give it to me. It’s absolutely ridiculous and wrong, it’s obvious that type of job you might not agree with things but it’s THEIR job

Again, it isn’t their job if they choose not to do that part. It’s explicitly not their job if they don’t want to
do that bit. They have fulfilled all the requirements of their job if they choose not to. I don’t know how else to explain this.

YANBU.

she had the right to make decisions regarding her own health and her reproductive choices without being forced to give up that right to give somebody else a warm glow of superiority

100% That is so awful that a young women would be denied medication that has been prescribed by a doctor simply because someone else “doesn’t agree with it”.

I actually feel quite angry reading this thread. Imagine being a young women already feeling perhaps nervous/embarrassed about filling your contraceptive prescription to then be faced with judgement and told no.

This should not be happening. 😔

That is very different because conversations would have taken place behind the scene that patient wouldn’t be aware of, and they would still receive the medical
treatment, so no harm done.

The difference is the Pharmacist refusing to prescribe medication means the patient would have to go somewhere else and be told “no” they can’t have their prescription. The shame and embarrassment around that isn’t ok.

I agree that they shouldn't become pharmacists if they have beliefs that they know will prevent them dispensing certain drugs. I do have sympathy if a drug becomes available while they are already pharmacists though e.g. in the 80s, some pharmacists were very unhappy when the morning after pill became available. The contraceptive pill has been available since the 60s though everyone who is currently a pharmacist knew they would be asked to dispense it when they started their training so very bad that a few don't.
Ultimately though if they work in a private practice it is up to them and their employer whether they dispense a drug although they do have to direct the patient to an alternative chemist if they aren't willing to provide.

Many will tell the patient it is out of stock to avoid that.

I agree with this. It needs to be clear and obvious what they won't do - the potential customer should know in advance.

I also think it should be mandatory for the pharmacist to clearly advertise the nearest provider, again without the customer needing to ask, along with signposting for how to get help if special circumstances would prevent them using the alternative if it's not close by.

The contract with the NHS probably doesn't state that they have to supply the contraceptive pill. I suspect a chemist shop owner would not employ a pharmacist who they knew wasn't going to dispense the pill though. I wonder if the people who are refusing are quite young.

I’ve worked in pharmacy for over 25 years, in all that time I’ve only ever worked with 1 pharmacist who doesn’t supply the MAP.
If she’s on shift we tell customers we don’t have any in stock rather than getting in to the whole objection thing. Luckily there is another pharmacy less than 5 minutes walk from us who do prescribe it.
In all honesty though the bulk of our sales are on the weekends and she doesn’t work then, it’s actually pretty rare I have to refuse a sale.

I believe in free access to the Pill etc but nobody who thinks otherwise can or should be forced to dispense it. Also, the range of a pharmacist's knowledge and skill is too wide and useful to society to bar them from the profession if they won't dispense it.

If the only pharmacist in town (or just the one attached to your GP surgery) won't dispense MAP, contraceptive pills etc, they should make that known to all GP surgeries in the local area so that arrangements can be made to deliver medication from elsewhere either to the surgery or to the patient's home. A poster in the window as well so all potential customers are aware. For time sensitive MAP etc where the woman should be able to get it over the counter and there is no other pharmacy nearby which stocks it, I honestly don't know the answer if she is unable to go elsewhere - maybe a similar mail order service publicised in universities / GP surgeries etc.

Given the op posted this and disappeared, gave no indication that this ever happened to them or ever happens apart from in the heads of Daily Mail readers, suggests their just trying to whip up a bit of racial tension.

Wow I’m shocked at this.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) says that nurses should practice in a “non-judgmental, holistic, caring, and sensitive and this includes avoiding assumptions, supporting social inclusion, recognizing individual choice, and acknowledging diversity”.

Non judgmental and recognising individual choice.

Does this not apply to pharmacists and doctors?!

I think it up to the pharmacist to not to work where they are the only pharmacist in town if they don't want to dispense it. They should be the ones inconvenienced not everyone else.

Nurses are able to have a conscientious objection though. Need to inform their manager, colleagues etc. Mainly relates to abortion and procedures to achieve conception and pregnancy. An emergency situation is excluded from this.

If you're self-employed, you can refuse to do anything that most other people doing the same job would do if you want to, for whatever reason.

If you own a paint shop, you can completely refuse to stock or supply green paint.

If you run a cafe, you can choose to close at lunch-time.

If you're a pharmacist and you object on moral grounds, you can refuse to prescribe the MAP.

As with any other business, customers are entirely at liberty to go elsewhere instead.

As for people saying 'but what if you're the only pharmacist in the village', it's no different in principle from if you're the only cafe in the village and you close at lunch-time. If a business doesn't provide what you need/want, it's just the same as the many villages that don't have any of that kind of business in the first place.