The Independent Pharmacy Awards brought together the who’s who of the pharmacy industry to celebrate the inspirational ways independents keep their communities healthy. Neil Trainis reports…

Every single pharmacist and pharmacy team member who made this year’s Independent Pharmacy Awards final shortlist were winners, simply because they are there for people who need them.

Some of those people are, by and large, healthy but call on their trusted independent for health advice and over-the-counter medicine.

Others will have long-term conditions that require careful management and may be on more than one medicine.

Some are vulnerable because they have complex health needs and some have been pushed to the periphery of society by mental illness, unemployment, addiction and homelessness. There will also be people who are suffering domestic abuse and have no-one else to turn to.

It makes me shudder to think what would happen to all these individuals if their independent pharmacy no longer existed. It is no exaggeration to say it would be a matter of life and death.

So, what makes the Independent Pharmacy Awards special is its ability to highlight how important independents are to their local communities.

Leading pharmacy organisations, representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, wholesalers and people from the world of politics gathered at the House of Commons to hear about our finalists.

Six categories were keenly contested. The first, Pharmacy Innovation, was won by Alexander Briggs from Westcliffe Pharmacy in West Yorkshire, who edged out his colleague at Westcliffe Mahmoud Khodadi and Kamal Nathwani from The Wellness Pharmacy in London.

One of Alexander’s most impactful innovations is his cardiovascular health check. Recognising a gap in local health services, he began a Saturday clinic specifically for cardiovascular health assessments.

Through his initiative, Alexander trained his staff to conduct health measurements including blood pressure, cholesterol levels and HbA1C testing, and his point-of-care testing device for cholesterol improved the service’s reliability.

Since the clinic started, 61 new patients with hypertension and 354 patients at risk of cardiovascular disease have been identified, exceeding national averages.

(L-R: ICP editor Neil Trainis, Paula Sutherland, interim sales director at Alliance Healthcare, the sponsors of the Innovation Award, and winner Alexander Briggs from Westcliffe Pharmacy).

Insync Healthcare Pharmacy in Cardiff won Pharmacy Team of the Year after beating off stiff competition from Pinhoe Pharmacy in Exeter and Wellswood Pharmacy in Borehamwood.

The unexpected closure of a local LloydsPharmacy in March 2023 significantly increased Insync’s workload but their team rose to the challenge. They successfully completed a major transition to a paperless dispensing system, showcasing their adaptability and teamwork.

(Philip Galt, centre, the managing director of Cegedim Healthcare Solutions, sponsors of the Pharmacy Team of the Year award, is flanked by Robert Cousins and Haydn Mayo from winners Insync Healthcare Pharmacy).

Emma Williams was crowned Pharmacy Technician of the Year for her splendid work at Tynewydd Pharmacy. Jessica Gapper from Westbourne Pharmacy in Bristol and Callum Dudding from Witham Late Night Pharmacy in Hull ran her very close.

One inspiring story that exemplified Emma's dedication involved a woman with COPD who struggled to quit smoking for years. Thanks to Emma's personalised support and frequent check-ins, the patient joined a local walking group and kicked the habit. And Emma worked tirelessly and retained her focus whilst caring for her partner who battled a brain tumour.

(Pharmacy Technician of the Year Emma Williams with Matthew Caldwell-Nichols on the left, the CEO of Precision Marketing Group, the sponsors of the award).

Deborah Evans at Remedi Health in Winchester was Independent Prescriber of the Year after coming through a high-quality category that contained Muhammad Zaheer at Shelley’s Pharmacy in Birmingham and Lindsey Fairbrother at Good Life Pharmacy in Derbyshire.

Deborah does not provide any NHS services but she has excelled in the private sphere. Since qualifying as an IP, she has prescribed a large number of items and generated significant prescription and consultation revenue, supporting women to reduce menopausal symptoms and improving the management of chronic conditions.

Her pharmacy’s weight management service helped over 20 people achieve an average weight loss of 10kg each and the 489 vaccines her pharmacy administered contributed around £60,000 in revenue.

(Deborah Evans holds the Independent Prescriber of the Year trophy with Sukhi Basra, a board member of the National Pharmacy Association, the sponsors of the award, to the right).

Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester (CPGM) won the Best Supporting Local Representative Group award after narrowly seeing off Community Pharmacy Surrey & Sussex and Community Pharmacy South-East London.

CPGM is the representative body for 628 pharmacy contractors across the 10 localities of Greater Manchester, including Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

It has had some notable achievements over the past 12 months. Its Pharmacy First workshops have seen a 95 per cent uptake, enabling contractors to deliver 10,000 to 12,000 consultations monthly, making Greater Manchester the second highest in England for these services.

Additionally, the Pharmacy Excellence Programme, supported by Greater Manchester integrated care board and Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board, has empowered contractors to expand their service delivery capabilities.

(Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester's team are pictured with Hatul Shah on the right, the CEO of Sigma Pharmaceuticals, the sponsor of the Best Supporting Local Representative Group award).

Simon Harris, who runs Cadbury Heath Pharmacy & Health Clinic in Bristol, was crowned Independent Pharmacist of the Year having been in a highly competitive category with Amarjit Singh Gill at Gill Chemist in Southall and Baba Akomolafe at Christchurch Pharmacy in Essex.

Simon has driven significant business growth at Cadbury Heath, increasing monthly prescription items by 26 per cent and doubling the pharmacy's turnover in challenging trading conditions.

He has put together a skilled and motivated team, with members gaining various qualifications, allowing the pharmacy to play a pivotal role in its local community.

But what caught the awards judges’ attention was his community collaboration. Simon and his team work with libraries, barbers, councillors, GPs and food banks and provide flu vaccinations to homeless shelters and local mosques.

Simon’s sterling work is a reminder that ‘community’ is not just about patients in a locality. ‘Community’ encompasses all the strands that come together to create it, local businesses, pubs, hotels, schools, retirement homes and so on.

(Independent Pharmacist of the Year Simon Harris, centre, is pictured with Harry McQuillan, the chairman of Numark, the sponsors of the award).

The awards rotate the UK’s four chief pharmaceutical officers (ChPOs) as guest speakers each year and this time round, it was the turn of England’s David Webb.

His predecessors were rarely allowed to speak their mind, especially if that meant questioning official policy, so I didn’t anticipate fireworks from Webb, who may not have had anything off-script to say in any case. (Since stepping down as ChPO, Keith Ridge appears to have been liberated to get things off his chest in articles he has written in the pharmacy press).

However, what Webb did do during the awards was recap and update. He insisted NHS England is “investing to significantly improve” the digital systems linking GPs and pharmacies to help roll out Pharmacy First.

He said NHSE is working with community pharmacy and general practice IT suppliers to ensure pharmacists can send updates directly to the GP patient record after a Pharmacy First consultation.

(England's chief pharmaceutical officer David Webb).

Webb also said community pharmacy primary care network engagement leads will be “critical” in supporting the implementation of Pharmacy First, blood pressure checks and pharmacy contraception service.

And he went on, insisting he had visited five community pharmacies in the last year “to meet teams and hear about their good work.” Five? Well, who’s counting.

He said he was “helping to further develop community pharmacy professional leadership” through the Primary Care Clinical Leadership Network and was focused on ensuring pharmacy professionals contribute to “system-wide patient care and prevention across the NHS.”

“Pharmacy professional leadership has never been more important for all of us. It is the factor which will help us navigate the next five to 10 years successfully so, collectively, we need to get this right,” he said.

Webb spoke about pharmacy professional leadership optimising medicines for patients and talked about independent prescribing being “a game-changer for the NHS in terms of making the most” of pharmacy’s workforce.

He reminded us the Cleo Solo electronic prescription system has been integrated into IP pathfinder sites and insisted NHSE was “making progress in training the existing pharmacist workforce.”

Following concerns over a lack of designated prescribing practitioners, Webb said NHSE “will continue to monitor” their availability “and work collaboratively to find solutions where needed.”

He also said he was “delighted” that legislation had been changed to allow pharmacy technicians to supply and administer medicines under a patient group direction.

With the impending outcome of the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on pharmacy supervision in mind, Webb said “supervision changes are an important part of the NHS’s overall strategy for pharmacy workforce development.”

“It will enable independent prescribing by pharmacists in all sectors,” he insisted, “as well as helping the NHS to meet other access challenges.”

See November’s edition of Independent Community Pharmacist for full coverage of the 2024 Independent Pharmacy Awards.