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Profile
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7/11/2011
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Burgeoning pharmacy talent
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When Danielle Bell embarked on a two-week work experience placement at Thackers Pharmacy, she could never have envisaged going on to play a pivotal role in the business. The Pharmacy Assistant of the Year talks to Neil Trainis...
Danielle Bell is awfully young to reside in pharmacy circles but she is adept at integrating a sense of fun with ardent professionalism. “I was over the moon because I really didn't expect to win the award,” the 26-year-old says buoyantly, casting her mind back to the moment she stood on a stage clutching the Pharmacy Assistant of the Year award in front of a packed house at the Park Plaza Hotel in London alongside, among others, the now under seige Andrew Lansley. The grip of pressure has exerted a tremendous squeeze. How a part of the Secretary of State for Health must pine for the innocent jocularity of youth which Danielle revels in. “My boss's son put me forward for the award. I was like 'you're joking! I'm not going to win!' To me it's just my job but I like what I do.” The evening at the Park Plaza was one of recognition for her achievements over the last eight years, during which time she has travelled from a fun-loving shop assistant to a dispensing technician who rarely misses a trick at the family-run Thackers Pharmacy in Manchester. Tales of comic incident, though, clash with the exacting, precise aspect of her persona. “I'm a bit of a control freak,” she says. “I like organisation. If you ask anyone in the pharmacy, they'll tell you. I'm known for it. I like everything to be in place.” And yet on the way to the Pharmacy Business awards last October, her brand new shoes gave way as she walked over Westminster Bridge, before the joy of winning prompted her to drop her award and shatter it. According to Thackers Pharmacy website, “Pharmacy Business are offering a replacement award (will this be safe!) and she can afford a new pair of shoes” with her £2,000 winnings. Danielle takes it all in her stride. “I studied graphic design at college but I felt it wasn't for me,” she reflects. “My mum worked (at Thackers Pharmacy) and heard about a vacancy. She was an OTC assistant there. I did two weeks' work experience, just to see what it's like, and got three more months.” She has been there ever since. “I live five minutes away from the pharmacy. I don't have to drive to work but I'm lazy, so it's good!”
Demanding
She has been a dispensing technician for the last three years and, although the role is demanding and the responsibility it entails brings pressure, Danielle thrives on being kept on her toes. “You're helping people. People trust you with their lives,” she says. “You're helping them with their medication. It's hard work. I basically do all the phone calls in the morning. We ring all of the customers to see if their medication is due. That takes up most of the morning. I do a doctors' run in the afternoon. All requests that come into the pharmacy, we make sure everything is there and we liaise with reception at the doctors to make sure everything is on the prescription.” Danielle manages to dilute the pressure with a personal sense of enjoyment and fulfilment. “Sometimes (there is pressure) but I enjoy it so much,” she says. She takes pride in what she and the 11-strong staff at Thackers does, although achievement only fuels her desire to achieve more. “There's a Tesco pharmacy near us, about five minutes away. When we found out they were 100 hours we panicked but we've got busier since then. If anything, we've done better now. We're more established. We're on the internet and people are coming to us from all over (the surrounding areas). We've just got busier.” Her pride has a collectiveness to it. She is not ashamed to admit she has struggled to follow the Government's proposals for the provision of health care in the UK, much like everybody else in the country, but she does not hesitate in championing her profession as a whole. “I'm not really up on (the NHS reforms). I'd like to think we are (valued) but I don't know. We should be because of the work we do,” she says. “One of the pharmacists sits in our consultation room doing MURS for our patients. We care. We make sure people are taking their medications properly. Some people don't know how to take their medication.” Danielle's gregariousness is punctured by an impression of vulnerability, perpetuated by her memories of that nearby Tesco making “loads of redundancies.”
“It scares me a bit, what's going to happen with the NHS. With all these changes and cuts, you think, 'oh God, am I going to have a job soon?'”
Pharmacy's uncertain future has only served to cultivate anxieties over her job security. “It scares me a bit, what's going to happen with the NHS. With all these changes and cuts, you think, 'oh God, am I going to have a job soon?'” That searing defiance, though, quickly returns. “I just want the recognition we deserve,” she exclaims. “We do play a vital role. A lot of our customers come to us for advice before their GPs. They trust us for advice before their GPs.” Danielle finds solace in the present. Just over a year ago Thackers underwent an impressive refurbishment and boasts three consultation rooms as well as a robotic dispensing machine. “The robotic dispensing arm saves our little legs,” Danielle muses playfully. “You can't see it because it's behind our OTC wall but you can hear it. It's like a big industrial thing! The customers are fascinated by it. When they come in they want to see it.” Her work fulfils her but the environment in which she operates is equally fulfilling. “It's an independent, family-run business but you're treated like one of the family,” she says. “I'd go to them for anything. They're really accomodating. If you have to nip outside, it's okay. We'll all best friends. We have poker nights. One of the sons of the owner holds a poker night. He's a chef as well and we have a barbecue. We are a tightly-knit bunch.” Pharmacy's future is shrouded in vagueness but this is one young lady with a strong sense of purpose.
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