Local knowledge

A lot of our customers are postgraduates and others attached to the university and most of them don’t want to go to the doctor so a lot of my business is over-the-counter. That makes my life much more interesting because I am relying on my clinical judgement and not just counting aspirin.” — Najma Jank, pharmacist Jank Nk chemist

 

Pharmacy life in Carlisle has been very harmonious over the years; there has always been friendly co-operation between the various contractors — formerly independents, now mostly multiple groups as everywhere. The local pharmaceutical committee has worked hard to encourage new service commissioning by Cumbria Primary Care Trust and there are now a number of local enhanced services available for pharmacies to provide, including most recently smoking cessation, supply of emergency hormonal contraception and a coeliac supply scheme.” — Jeff Forster

Glasgow is a good city to live in. The PCT provides a good range of innovative and essential services and works well in co-operation with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Pharmacy Contractors Committee. Services offered through pharmacies in Glasgow include smoking cessation, heart failure support and long term medication services. . . the community is at the heart of pharmacy in Glasgow. — Alan Robertson, Colin Fergusson Pharmacy

Birmingham is my home town and I love working here. The city is multi-cultural and this means that I deal with new scenarios every day; no two days are the same. The city is centrally located for travelling to all areas of the UK and has all of the shops and services anyone could need. In my dealings with Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, I have always found them very supportive and friendly — Rizwan Imrani, pharmacist

The pharmacy is in the booking hall of Stockwell tube station. Most of our customers, around 80 per cent, are to do with prescriptions, only 20 per cent are those just passing by. I’ve worked in Lambeth most of my working life and in the area a lot of our customers have strong family ties so we get to know them well and build up a professional relationship with them — Leke Adefara, pharmacy manager

The pharmacy is in the suburbs and we get to know our customers. There is also a large multi-ethnic community, so we get to work with all different kinds of conditions which is interesting. Newcastle is a great place to live — it’s vibrant, has all the night life but it’s only 10 or 15 minutes to the countryside — Nicola Bawn, pharmacy manager

 

The great thing about working at University Hospital Aintree is the fantastic, hard working and friendly team . . . who deliver a high level of pharmaceutical care [and] the excellent working relationships we have with the senior medical staff and managers — Dave Thornton, principal pharmacist

 

I like working at the Norfolk and Norwich because it is a truly forward-thinking hospital. There are opportunities to explore research in conjunction with the University of East Anglia and we continue to explore innovative ways of practising. The number of pharmacy staff has expanded over the past year. I look ahead to the future with a real sense of excitement and hope — Jamie Harris, medical team leader

 

St Albans is a nice place to work and live. It has a compact city centre with good shopping facilities and a twice-weekly street market — Colin Sach, pharmaceutical adviser. St Albans was one of the largest Roman settlements in Britain and still has pockets of Roman remains, including an amphitheatre — Colin Sach, pharmaceutical adviser

 

The interesting thing is the number of tourists we see. I love languages and I get to practise my German, Italian, Spanish and even Dutch — Chris Naidu, community pharmacist. The town has a strong arts heritage because of its natural light. Turner and Whistler were frequent visitors. It is home to Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Gallery.