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A pharmacist who removed a partially dispensed prescription for methadone from one pharmacy and proceeded to dispense it at another without the patient’s consent has received a warning from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Ansar Mahmood, who acts as joint superintendent pharmacist at Adams Pharmacy in Ashton-under-Lyne along with a business partner, took the prescription to nearby Alans Pharmacy where he is sole superintendent pharmacist without first informing colleagues at Adams Pharmacy of his plans.

At a recent videolink hearing before the GPhC’s fitness to practise committee, Mr Mahmood admitted to all allegations against him and said he had “seen red” due to long-standing differences with his business partner, with whom there has been a “severely deteriorated” working relationship.

Patient LK was prescribed 39ml of Physeptone daily on a 14-day FP10MDA instalment prescription coverig the period August 13-26, 2024, with collections scheduled on the August 13, 15, 17, 20, 22 and 24.

Mr Mahmood was seen leaving Adams Pharmacy between 8am and 9am with two blue prescriptions on August 20, 2024. When asked by a member of staff what he was doing, he told them he was taking Patient LK’s prescriptions to Alans Pharmacy, which Mr Mahmood had bought earlier in 2024.

When the staff member said he could not do this, he nonetheless proceeded to leave with them.

When he later spoke with an NHS adviser, Mr Mahmood said he had “seen red” and “intentionally picked up the prescriptions” and did not deny that the prescription had been part-dispensed.

“The mistake was mine when I picked up the Rs to not fully check,” he said, describing his behaviour as a “lapse of judgement”.

He accepted "full responsibility for the Rx being dispensed eventually at the two pharmacies” and acknowledged this had created a risk that the patient might miss a dose or receive a double dose of methadone.

He said in a witness statement: “I genuinely regret my conduct in dispensing a prescription for Methadone that had already been part dispensed by Adams pharmacy. I recognise that a prescription should never be part-dispensed by one pharmacy and then completed by a different one.

“In particular, I recognise the issues this causes in terms of CD records, traceability and audits and am deeply ashamed of my conduct on this occasion.”

He said he was “devastated to look back at how I conducted myself” and “grateful that no patient harm occurred”.

Apologising to Patient LK as well as his business partner, Mr Mahmood said he recognised that patient autonomy must be at the heart of decision making, adding: “I completely understand the importance of behaving professionally, both when dealing with patients and the public, but also in my interactions with colleagues and appreciate how my conduct could negatively affect the public’s perception of the pharmacy profession.”

He told the FtP committee he had recognised the need to refresh his knowledge of methadone dispensing guidelines and reviewed the Medicines, Ethics and Practice guide and Government information on delivering substance misuse services as a result.

The FtP committee heard that a year after he and his business partner bought Adams Pharmacy in 2012, the relationship deteriorated, and that the pair found themselves unable to agree on simple business decisions.

The committee also heard there was a dispute over patient nominations between Adams Pharmacy and Alans Pharmacy.

Mr Mahmood said he had “stretched myself across too many responsibilities” and has since scaled back his duties, adding: “I have engaged in a process to carry on separating from my business partner... and have limited my direct contact with him to assist with this.

“For all of these reasons, I am confident that there is no risk of me repeating such behaviour in the future.”

The committee found that Mr Mahmood’s conduct had fallen below the level expected of a pharmacist, but found in light of his admissions and insight into the impact of his behaviour on the patient that there was little risk of repetition.

It gave Mr Mahmood a warning to mark the seriousness of his misconduct, which will appear on his registry entry for 12 months.

Related: Warning for superintendent after medicines supplied ‘without valid prescriptions’