Research briefing : Pharmacists' perceptions of ethical conflict and professional guidance

This report sets out the findings of an empirical project conducted between September 2017 and January 2020, funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme small research grants scheme.

We were interested in pharmacists' views on personal ethical commitments and professional guidance because this issue has received limited attention in legal and bioethical literature. It was timely to consider this because the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Guidance on Religion, Personal Values and Beliefs focuses on person-centred care, and some of the proposed changes in healthcare could result in pharmacists being more involved in providing controversial care, such as assisted dying or ‘abortion on prescription’.