In News

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

A pharmacist who stole and consumed medicines from the pharmacy where he worked has been handed a nine-month suspension by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Ciaran Mulenga Dunne was handed the suspension with a review by a fitness to practise committee principal hearing last week after it heard he took medicines including aspirin, Naproxen, Sudafed, Diazepam and Dioctyl from a branch of Well Pharmacy in North Walsham between August 14 and October 16, 2023.

Dunne received a caution from Norfolk Police in July 2024 for stealing 28 10mg tablets of Diazepam belonging to the pharmacy and he failed to declare the caution to the GPhC within seven days as required by its regulations.

The committee heard he was aware he did not have permission or authority to take and consume the medicines from the pharmacy and he knew he did not have a valid prescription for Naproxen, Diazepam and Sudafed.

The committee found his fitness to practice was impaired “on public protection and public interest grounds by reason of his misconduct and his caution”. Part of the hearing relating to Dunne’s health and private life was held in private after the committee decided his right to privacy outweighed the public interest.

He admitted all the allegations and expressed remorse for his actions. As well as his written statement, the committee was given witness evidence and CCTV material.

Giving evidence to the committee, Dunne accepted his actions were dishonest because he did not have permission to take the medication. On two occasions, he stole Diazepam from the pharmacy for his own use and admitted the branch was closed when he took medicine “on all but one occasion”.

In its report, the committee said Dunne “was experiencing extremely difficult personal circumstances which left him feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope” but noted “he took full responsibility for his actions and he accepted that his behaviour fell well below the standard expected of a pharmacist and breached the trust that had been placed in him”.

The report also noted Dunne “had reflected on his conduct and that he felt ashamed, embarrassed and disappointed”. It added: “His difficult personal circumstances resulted in serious lapses in his professional judgement which occurred within a difficult emotional context”.

“He accepted that it did not excuse or justify his actions and that he should have complied with his professional responsibilities,” the report went on, adding Dunne “had sought professional help” and “recognised the importance of improving his work/life balance and seeking the support of colleagues”.

However, the committee found Dunne’s “dishonesty was deliberate and repeated over approximately a two-month period” and “the theft, which included a controlled drug, related to theft from his employer which amounted to a significant abuse of trust’.

Imposing a suspension, the committee said he breached three standards covering pharmacy professionals using their professional judgement, behaving in a professional manner and demonstrating leadership.