As a pharmacy technician and healthy living champion with impressive results in helping people to quit smoking, Naeem Shad certainly impressed our panel of Awards judges

It is safe to say that Naeem Shad, highly commended in the Pharmacy Technician of the Year category at this year’s Awards, isn’t afraid of hard work. As if working six days a week as a pharmacy technician at Day Lewis Pharmacy’s branch in London’s bustling South Norwood wasn’t enough, he is the store’s healthy living champion, has taken on a coaching role for the rest of the support staff team, and even visits patients at home to ensure they are taking their medicines correctly.

However, it is the area of smoking cessation that really shines through as the therapeutic area that is closest to Naeem’s heart. After becoming a stop smoking advisor in 2010, his interest in the behavioural aspects associated with quitting grew to such a point that he decided to enrol on a course with the National Centre for Smoking Cessation Training (NCSCT). “This means I have more knowledge but also more confidence in delivering the service,” he says.

His conviction certainly translates into numbers: this year Naeem was second placed out of all the stop smoking advisors in Croydon for the number of quitters delivered. That isn’t to say that he is only concerned with quit figures. “It’s about people knowing that we provide the service and accessing it,” he says. “I focus on the behaviour side of smoking, rather than dealing with it purely as an addiction, and I think it really helps.”

One such example is a female customer who came to see him in an attempt to give up her 40-year smoking habit. Where many others had failed, Naeem succeeded, and her family were so grateful that the woman’s son came in to the pharmacy to say thank you. The next step for Naeem is to do more NCSCT courses, this time on helping pregnant women and people with mental health problems to quit smoking.

He is also planning to go into local schools and businesses, not just to promote the service that he provides from the pharmacy as smoking cessation lead, but also to raise awareness that there is something people can do if they want to give up smoking. As Awards judge and National Pharmacy Association head of pharmacy services Leyla Hannbeck says: “He is proactive, motivated and driven to do well and help the community.”

Future plans

Naeem says he is “proud and humbled” by his success at the TM Awards, and it has motivated him to become even more focused on pharmacy services. Having just completed his training to deliver NHS Heath Checks, he is keen to promote the provision to his customers, and also has his sights set on weight management.

All of this doesn’t mean core services like dispensing get overlooked. Following a recent refit, the pharmacy now has a Patient Medication Record computer on the pharmacy counter, which enables Naeem to be in his preferred place: highly accessible to patients and customers who want to take advantage of the excellent advice he can give, while still overseeing the day-to-day running of the dispensary and being on hand for staff if they need to call on him. Naeem’s ability to juggle so many responsibilities frees up his pharmacist to deliver other services such as medicines use reviews and flu vaccinations.

Awards judge Joanne Taylor, Vittoria Healthcare commented “he is proud to be a technician”, and Naeem says that Day Lewis Pharmacy chief executive Kirit Patel has made a point of saying how proud and privileged he is to have such a dedicated individual in his employment.

He is proactive, motivated and driven to do well and help the community