If the employee continues to fall short of the performance required of him or her, then a meeting should be arranged to discuss this. It is important not to make an automatic assumption that the employee is the cause of poor performance. The employee should have prior written notice containing details of the matters to be considered and notification of his or her right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union official. At the meeting, the employee must understand:

• What is required of him or her
• Reasonable timescales that he or she will be given for improvement
• The sanctions for failing to comply, such as further disciplinary meetings.

Records should be kept of the meeting including date, action points agreed and deadlines for improvement in performance.

Where the employee's capability to perform the job is due to a lack of training, inappropriate training, inadequate resources, poor instruction from management or a lack of skill or abilities, then these should be addressed. Correcting an obvious deficiency could bring about a considerable improvement in performance.

If the employee does not improve, the employer may consider whether the employee can be redeployed within the pharmacy or organisation. If this is not possible the employer may choose to terminate the employee's contract of employment at this stage. However, the pharmacy must be able to demonstrate that the decision to dismiss was reasonable, i.e. the employee had been provided with every opportunity to improve, but that improvement did not occur and there were no alternative redeployment opportunities available.