英国卫报:走向失控的博姿药妆(18)

Three in every four of responding Boots pharmacists believe that the cuts imposed by their employer,

在接受调查的博姿药剂师中，有四分之三的人认为，雇主实施的裁员，

whether the drop in staff numbers or increased workloads¹, threaten patient safety at least half the time or more.

无论是工作人员数量的减少还是工作量的增加，至少有一半或更多的时间威胁到患者的安全。

In response, Boots points out that it now employs more than 6,000 pharmacists in the UK, up from about 4,500 before the buyout.

作为回应，博姿指出，该公司目前在英国拥有6000多名药剂师，高于收购前的4500名左右。

However, that rise tracks the increase in its number of stores, up from 1,400 in 2005 to around 2,400 today.

不过，其门店数量也有一样的增长趋势，从2005年的1400家增至如今的2400家左右。

I asked Boots what had happened to the number of dedicated² pharmacy³ support staff,

我问博姿，专门的药房支持人员的数量怎么了，

the dispensers and assistants that Boots chemists reported they were having to do without. The company did not respond.

博姿药剂师报告说，他们不得不放弃配药员和助手。该公司没有回应。

Asked what dangers these cuts might pose to patients, John Murphy, general secretary of the PDA,

当被问及这些削减会给病人带来什么危险时，PDA的秘书长约翰·墨菲说，

identified overworked chemists giving out either the wrong medicine or the right medicines at the wrong dosages.

工作过度的化学家可开出错误的药物，或者对正确的药物开出了错误的剂量。

He listed cases of medicine-related fatalities⁴: a woman in a Chesterfield care home given six times her prescribed dose of morphine by a Boots pharmacy;

他列举了与药物相关的死亡案例：一名妇女在切斯特菲尔德护理中心在博姿药店被注射了六倍于她处方剂量的吗啡；

a similar story in Weston-super-Mare; an 86-year-old widower⁵ in Felixstowe given the wrong drugs.

滨海威斯顿还有一例类似情况；费利克斯托的一位86岁的鳏夫服用了错误的药物。

Boots rightly pointed⁶ out that such cases are very rare, stating that “patient safety is at the heart of what we do …

博姿适时地指出，这种情况非常罕见，并指出“患者的安全是我们工作的核心...

Whenever (such cases) happen our priority is always to the family … and working with the relevant investigators⁷ to seek to understand what happened”.

无论何时（这样的案件）发生，我们的首要任务都是家属...并与相关调查人员合作，试图弄清楚到底发生了什么。”

Yet these incidents evidently play on the minds of Boots pharmacists.

然而，这些事件显然引起了博姿药剂师的注意。

1 workloads   

（某一人或组织）工作量，工作负担( workload的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Project management software can provide such visibility into everyone's skills and workloads. 项目管理软件可以提供这样的能见度到每个人的技能和工作量。
• Doctors have complained of heavy workloads. 医生投诉工作越来越繁重。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

4 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》