A scheme to make pharmacy consultation rooms a safe space for domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus lockdown has been launched by survivors’ support organisation Hestia.
Boots and Morrisons have joined the project, part of Hestia’s UK SAYS NO MORE campaign, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and General Pharmaceutical Council are urging other chemists to follow suit.
Boots chief pharmacist Marc Donovan said: “We hope that making our consultation rooms safe spaces we can help people find the support they need at this difficult time, when many other options are temporarily unavailable.”
The company has 2,400 stores across the UK, while Morrisons has designated consulting rooms in pharmacies at 117 of its supermarkets as safe spaces.
On the Morrison initiative Lyndsey Dearlove, who heads the Hestia campaign, said: “Supermarket trips are part of a routine that, even during lockdown, provides a vital opportunity to seek help without raising the suspicions of an abusive partner or household member.”
