At the Pharmacy Assistant of the Year awards (left to right): Interact winner Karen Duckett, Mel Smith (Reckitt Benckiser), winner Sarah Williams, John D'Arcy (director, NPA), runner up Sylvia Hodge, Harriet Adcock (editor, The Pharmacy Assistant), runner up Jane Iago, and Ailsa Benson (head of training, NPA) |
Pharmacy assistant Miss Sarah Williams, who works for Ringwood pharmacy in Coventry, has won the title of Pharmacy Assistant of the Year. She was presented with a £2,000 holiday voucher and a commemorative vase at a ceremony at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's headquarters in London on February 18. Two runners up, Mrs Sylvia Hodge, of Co-operative Health Care in Rochdale, and Mrs Jane Iago, of Teville Gate Pharmacy, Worthing, won London theatre breaks for two.
Pharmacy assistants took part by answering questions in issues of The Pharmacy Assistant during 1999. (The Pharmacy Assistant is edited within the offices of The Pharmaceutical Journal.) A tie for the winning place was settled by interview with a panel of judges (Ms Ailsa Benson, head of training, National Pharmaceutical Association, Mr Mel Smith, professional relations manager, Reckitt Benckiser [the company formed by the merger of Reckitt & Colman and Benckiser last year], and Dr Harriet Adcock, editor, The Pharmacy Assistant). The panel tested the contestants on technical knowledge, interest in pharmacy and confidence. Miss Williams said that she was pleased to have been selected as the winner. She was looking forward to planning her holiday.
The prizes were presented by Mrs Christine Glover (President, Royal Pharmaceutical Society). Mrs Glover said that the Society was delighted to be host for the occasion and congratulated all of the winning assistants. She added that in her experience of community pharmacy, support staff made an enormous difference in delivering an A1 service.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Mr Smith said that the standard of this year's finalists had been extremely high.
The competition, run by The Pharmacy Assistant and the NPA, is sponsored by Reckitt Benckiser. Details of this year's competition can be found in the January issue of The Pharmacy Assistant.
Interact winner A separate competition, the Pharmacy Interact Assistant of the Year, was won by Miss Karen Duckett of Bare Pharmacy, Morecambe. Her prize, also sponsored by Reckitt Benckiser, was a theatre weekend for two and a commemorative vase.