Diane has a successful career as a senior hospital pharmacist behind her and in recent times has used her skills to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme rollout and to help those who have been most vulnerable to the virus.
Why did you choose to work in the NHS?
My pharmacy degree provided a range of career opportunities and through holiday work experience and further study I believed I was best suited to a career in NHS hospital pharmacy. I enjoy working and learning alongside a large team of pharmacy professionals and in ward multidisciplinary teams, talking to patients about their health needs and medication issues and developing clinical and service delivery problem solving skills.
Working in an NHS hospital pharmacy provides daily learning and development opportunities; no two days are the same so there is plenty of variety and opportunity for career development as well as undertaking ward and clinic-based patient-facing work. This includes opportunities to gain manufacturing and quality control skills as well as exposure to research and procurement processes or entering more specialist areas of the profession.
Tell us about your role?
Having worked for the NHS for over 35 years, I retired as Trust Chief Pharmacist in 2022 and returned to work in a project director, senior pharmacist role.
I am the clinical lead for the Covid-19 vaccination service. During the 2022 Autumn Covid-booster program, I was involved in the Task and Finish Group responsible for pathway development, commissioning and delivery of the Covid-19 complex allergy clinic for people living in Cheshire and Merseyside. This involved supporting people with a history of anaphylaxis or serious adverse reaction to a previous Covid-19 vaccine. Feedback from service users was extremely positive.
I feel privileged to be able to work with the team delivering care to post-acute Covid-19 patients (long Covid) and other teams, providing support with advice and evidence-based information where needed. During my career I have also fulfilled the role of Deputy Chief Clinical Information Officer and worked closely with digital services staff to lead one of the Electronic Patient Record implementation workstreams.
What do you most enjoy about your role?
I enjoy the variety within each day, the contact with patients and staff, the opportunities to extend and use my knowledge and skills to improve staff or patient wellbeing or experience and the ability to make a difference.
What would you say to someone thinking about a career in the NHS?
The NHS is a large organisation offering career opportunities in a wide range of clinical, non-clinical, operational, managerial or leadership activities, access to training to gain the skills required to do these well and for career development. The work is challenging, varied, sometimes stressful but always fulfilling and if you enjoy helping people a career in the NHS provides an abundance of job satisfaction. As an NHS employee you have the opportunity to work with supportive staff, to help others…and it is possible to leave work each day knowing that your work had an important purpose and you made a difference to others.
