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A locum pharmacist who made a dispensing error while working at Boots but continued to work his shifts despite being sent home after colleagues raised concerns and was later convicted of drink driving has been warned by the General Pharmaceutical Council. 

The regulator’s investigating committee heard that on three dates in June and July 2023, Baljinder Singh Kaila dispensed an incorrect prescription of methadone during a shift. The patient only avoided harm after they noticed his mistake.

Kaila was asked to leave the pharmacy after concerns were raised by his colleagues and patients but he chose to continue working his shifts. The committee heard he failed to “take the proper steps needed to address those concerns”.

On September 2, 2024, he was convicted at Lincoln Magistrates Court of driving a “motor vehicle when (his) alcohol level was above the (the) limit”.

The committee said Kaila had “been working without issue for a significant period of time” and “provided his reflections demonstrating a good understanding” of how he “put patients at risk”.

However, it said “in choosing to continue attending his shifts despite being sent home due to concerns from his colleagues and patients”, he “did not take the proper steps needed to address those concerns”.

The warning will be published on the register for 12 months.