Home >  News Centre > Pharmacy Assistant of the Year receives £2,000 prize in awards ceremony held at Society’s HQ | Search

Pharmacy Assistant of the Year receives £2,000 prize in awards ceremony held at Society’s HQ
(1 April 2004)

Parminder Singadia (right) receives her award from Gill Hawksworth

Pharmacy assistant Parminder Singadia, of Masters Pharmacy, Sparkhill, Birmingham, has been awarded the title of Pharmacy Assistant of the Year 2003. She was presented with a £2,000 holiday voucher and commemorative vase by the President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Gill Hawksworth at an awards lunch held at the Society’s headquarters in London on 19 March.

Mrs Singadia, who is studying towards a national vocational qualification in dispensing, has worked as a pharmacy assistant since her school days. She said she was thrilled to have reached the final of the competition, adding “to actually win it is out of this world”. She said being a pharmacy assistant was challenging and an ongoing learning experience. “I would encourage all assistants to seek professional development opportunities and support from their pharmacists.”

Left to right: Ann Lewis, the Society’s Secretary and Registrar, Lesley Johnson, Roslyn Bruce, Trudy Thomas, pharmacy writer, Parminder Singadia, Harriet Adcock, Pat Williams, Mel Smith and Gill Hawksworth

A tie for the winning place was settled by interview with a panel of judges — Lesley Johnson, head of education and training, National Pharmaceutical Association, Mel Smith, head of medical and pharmacy affairs, Reckitt Benckiser (sponsors of the award), and Harriet Adcock, editor of The Pharmacy Assistant and news editor on The Journal. Mrs Singadia was joined in the final by Pat Williams of Manor Pharmacy, Shevington and Roslyn Bruce, of Robert Whitelaw pharmacy in Aberdeen. The finalists were tested on product knowledge, customer services and other pharmacy-related topics. The runners-up each won a £500 holiday voucher and vase.

Speaking at the awards lunch, Mrs Johnson commented on the exceptionally high standard of all the entries. She added: “Pharmacy assistants are valuable members of the pharmacy health care team providing added value to the customers. Pharmacists appreciate the hard work carried out by assistants in providing a first class and professional service.” Mr Smith noted the worth of the Society, the NPA and the pharmaceutical industry working together to provide training for pharmacy assistants. He added: “The quality of the finalists is a credit to their pharmacies.”

Before presenting the awards, Dr Hawksworth acknowledged the importance of ongoing training. “Pharmacists and the people who work alongside them need to keep up to date in order to provide the best service possible for patients and customers. Learning is a lifelong thing. But it can be fun, especially when it leads to happy events like today. I would like to offer my personal congratulations and those of the Society to all of the winners.”