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A locum pharmacist who allegedly fell asleep in the pharmacy twice on the same day and tried to dissuade a patient from taking part in a subsequent GPhC investigation has been suspended for one month. 

The regulator’s fitness to practise committee imposed the “short suspension” on Munsif Mohammed following a hearing that sought to establish the events of July 2022, while he was working as the responsible pharmacist at Noor Pharmacy in Small Heath in Birmingham.

Mr Mohammed admitted to having fallen asleep in the consultation room for over 20 minutes on that afternoon and having left the pharmacy unattended during that time.

In addition to the admitted episode from that afternoon, CCTV footage showed a person “slumped in the dispensary” in the morning; the footage was “not clear enough to identify the individual”.

He denied falling asleep in the dispensary on the morning of July 2 and claimed it may instead have been a delivery driver. 

But this was contradicted by witness Patient A, who said the person who woke up and came out to see her in the pharmacy had been Mr Mohammed. She had been “unable to obtain medication in a timely manner” according to the report from the hearing. 

The FtP committee decided it was “improbable in the extreme that two different members of the pharmacy staff would fall asleep in the pharmacy on the same day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon”.

However, the committee did not find Mr Mohammed had deliberately presented a false account, accepting that his memory of the day was unclear and that he “has honestly tried to make sense of what is clearly an unusual occurrence”. 

The regulator accepted that he had fallen asleep due to a health condition, and that he now has this under control. Nonetheless, the committee said that given his duties on the day he should have “recognised that he was not fit to practise” and, if necessary, closed the pharmacy. 

The FtP committee also considered allegations that Mr Mohammed, having made a note of Patient A’s address from her clinical records, visited her at her home on January 31, 2023, after he learned an investigation had been launched against him. 

Patient A described feeling “intimidated and scared” but added that Mr Mohammed had not been aggressive or raised his voice and had apologised for the events of July 2, 2022. 

The FtP committee found that this was probably an attempt to “dissuade” Patient A from taking part in the GPhC investigation. 

Mr Mohammed provided evidence of “a wide variety” of courses he has undertaken since the events in question, including some on conflict resolution and remediation, and demonstrated an “exceptional level of insight” that included a clear understanding of the impact his actions had had on Patient A. 

Bearing in mind these factors as well as positive testimonials as to his character and professional capabilities, the FtP committee decided removing him from the register would be disproportionate. 

The committee imposed a one-month suspension order to reflect the seriousness of his breaches of the professional code without causing “significant detriment to the public who benefit from Mr Mohamed’s services”. 

Unusually, the FtP committee also decided not to impose an interim suspension order during the 28-day appeal period.