Pharmacies report surge in shoplifting and aggression

Around nine in 10 pharmacies have reported an increase in shoplifting and aggression towards staff in the past year.

A survey of 500 pharmacies by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) also found 87% had experienced at least one instance of intimidating behaviour towards workers, while 22% said they had seen staff physically assaulted.

Henry Gregg, the head of the body, which represents more than 6,000 independent community pharmacies in the UK, called the findings "appalling".

It comes amid an increase in reports of shoplifting across the UK's wider retail sector.

A government spokesperson said it had a "zero-tolerance approach to violence or harassment directed at NHS staff and community pharmacists".

They added that more than 500 town centres were being given extra neighbourhood patrols aimed at preventing shop theft and related offences.

But Mr Gregg said police "should do much more to tackle crimes like shoplifting". Nearly three-quarters of pharmacies the NPA surveyed said they felt the police response to criminal incidents was inadequate.

Police chiefs say they are doing all they can to pursue offenders and that tackling shoplifting requires collaboration between businesses and forces.

Ashley Cohen, a pharmacist in Leeds, said he had witnessed an "endemic increase in criminality".

"I'm not just talking about petty crime, small incidents of shoplifting, I'm seeing wanton vandalism," he told BBC Breakfast, noting instances of what he believed were "sinister organised crimes, where people are trying to access our dispensaries".

He has counted two attempted break-ins overnight at each of his two pharmacies, and three instances in which a brick was thrown through the front window.

Mr Cohen said: "Every incident of crime in our pharmacy isn't just a statistic but it makes my staff feel unsafe and it also stops our patients accessing healthcare."

Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) - which represents small community pharmacy chains - said dealing with shoplifters was not simply an issue of locking up more expensive items such as perfume, as thieves were taking anything they could get hold of.

"People feel that it's within their rights," she told the BBC, adding that shoplifters felt emboldened due to a lack of police response and those who were caught getting away with a "slap on the wrist".

As a result of this - and an increase in aggressive behaviour - IPA members have had to spend money to install CCTV or to bring in private security guards, she said.

The NPA says the pharmacies if represents have also had to resort to the same measures, as well as employing body cameras and panic buttons, and installing security shutters.

Some have also considered displaying photographs of known thieves as a form of deterrence - something the UK's information watchdog has warned against as it could break data protection laws.

But these measures are paid for by the pharmacies themselves. Mr Cohen said faster response times from police would give them better protection.

Last month, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed retailers in England and Wales have seen the highest levels of shoplifting since records began more than two decades ago.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has also found that shoplifters have been carrying out increasingly brazen and violent acts of theft because they do not fear any consequences.

Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that shoplifting had "got out of hand" in the UK.

When asked about whether it was appropriate for images of known shoplifters to be displayed in places such as shop windows, she replied: "It's on all of us to be aware of what is going on in our local communities."

Nick Kaye, the former NPA chair, noted that instances of aggression were not always linked to shoplifting, but were often people going into pharmacies after being let down by other parts of the NHS.

"We [community pharmacies] are dealing with the most vulnerable, we are always there and accessible," he added.

The NPA warns that thieves could harm themselves or others by using stolen prescription medication.