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With over two decades of service at Tynewydd Pharmacy in the Welsh valleys, Emma Williams has built a reputation for care that goes far beyond the counter. Saša Janković caught up with her…

Emma Williams, the winner of last year’s Pharmacy Technician of the Year award at the Independent Pharmacy Awards, has been a pillar of Tynewydd Pharmacy for over two decades, after her initial career plans took an unexpected turn.

“It all started one summer while I was on a break from training to be a nurse”, explains Emma. “I spotted a job advertisement in the window of the local pharmacy and thought I’d do that until my university course started in the January… and 23 years later I’m still here.”

As an accredited checking technician at Tynewydd Pharmacy, Emma plays a crucial role in ensuring the dispensary runs smoothly – and her responsibilities extend far beyond the technical aspects of her job.

She oversees the allocation of work, runs the smoking cessation clinic, conducts discharge medicine reviews and performs blood pressure checks.

Confident advice

Emma's commitment to continuous learning is evident in her extensive training, which includes flu vaccinations and, most recently, mental health.

“One of the reasons I love working in community pharmacy is that we play such a big role in so many aspects of people’s lives, and you get to know whole families, from the grandparents to the children,” says Emma, “but it was surprising to realise how many people in our community were feeling isolated. 

“We’ve got a lovely mental health nurse based at the surgery across the road, but she’s only available once or twice a week, so in between those times, people often come to us with questions or just needing someone to talk to.

“I decided to do some extra mental health training so I could feel confident giving the right support and advice. Sometimes, people simply want a quiet space to sit down and chat and being there for them in those moments really matters.”

Even if someone isn’t directly asking for help, Emma says pharmacy teams are often the first people to notice if something is up with regular customers. 

“There was an older gentleman who had recently come out of hospital, and over a couple of weeks I noticed he’d lost a bit of weight”, she says.

“When he came in, I said, ‘Oh, you’ve lost a few pounds’ and that opened up a conversation. Sometimes people just need a chance to talk and let things out. I always try to steer them in the right direction, and make sure I know where best to refer them if they need more support.”

Smoking support

Another example of Emma's dedication was helping a woman with COPD who struggled to quit smoking for years. 

“In the past, other smoking cessation told her to come in at set appointment times, which she found a bit restrictive”, says Emma, “but I just said to her ‘Come in whenever you like, no appointment needed’, and I think knowing that someone was always there made a real difference.

“She’d been saying for ages that she wanted a new fridge-freezer, so we gave her a box and said ‘Every time you save money by not buying cigarettes, put it in here’.

“She couldn’t believe how much she’d saved. She was also quite isolated, so I put her in touch with a local walking group.

“At first she was unsure – people can find the idea of a walking group a bit intimidating – but this one is brilliant as they’ve got different groups for different levels of ability.

“They meet a few times a week, and it gave her motivation and companionship. Seeing the money build up, staying active, and having someone to talk to all helped make her goal a reality.”

 Job satisfaction

“What I love most about my job is that you get to see people throughout their whole journey,” says Emma.

“In community pharmacy, especially in the valleys, there’s a real sense of connection. I really enjoy that personal contact, and it’s brilliant how many services pharmacy technicians can now offer.

“I’ve just completed training for providing the morning after pill and initiating the contraceptive pill, which is such a valuable service for any community.

“And our pharmacist, Gareth Hughes, is always incredibly busy, so it feels good to be able to step in and take some of the pressure off him by offering those services ourselves.”

With the debate going on in some quarters over whether pharmacy technicians should be called ‘pharmacy professionals’ along with pharmacists – since the GPhC currently refers to ‘the pharmacy professions’, thus regarding pharmacists as belonging to one profession and pharmacy technicians to another – Emma says labels are not important to her.

“I don’t feel there’s any divide”, she says. “Gareth always says we’re all part of the same team and that’s exactly how it feels.

“Labels honestly don’t bother me. I understand why people raise the issue but in my day-to-day work, it’s not something I notice.

“We all know our individual roles and responsibilities of course, and there are differences in what each of us can provide for the community, but in practice we just get on with it. We support each other and work together as a team.”

Looking to the future

Working a 40-hour week, plus overtime, and demonstrating her unwavering dedication to her patients – whom she considers an extended family – Emma is keen to take on even more responsibilities.

“We’re having a big extension at the moment, which is really exciting,” she says. “Up until now, we’ve only had one consultation room, but soon we’ll have two: one for the pharmacist and one for us technicians. That opens up the potential for even more services.  

“I think there’s a lot technicians could do with the right training, like supporting with hay fever, head lice treatments and other common conditions.

“If we can already offer services like flu vaccinations and the morning after pill then I don’t see why we couldn’t help with those too. I love anything that adds more one-to-one time with patients. That’s the part of the job I enjoy most.”

Pictured: Emma Williams is flanked by Matthew Caldwell-Nichols (left), the chairman of Precision Marketing Group, sponsors of the Pharmacy Technician of the Year award, and ICP editor Neil Trainis.