Angela Lewis’ humility, compassion, longevity and continued passion to push community pharmacy forward struck a chord with the Recognition of Excellence Awards judges. Her story demonstrates just how important the work of a pharmacy team member is and the impact it can have on a person’s life

It takes a special someone to be crowned winner of the Recognition of Excellence Spotlight Award. The title goes to one of the category winners, who this year included a delivery driver described as “pivotal” and “a real gem”, a health champion who got such a reputation for the sexual health services and advice she provided that she had an initiative named after her, a non-pharmacist manager who decided that the tools on offer to monitor errors and near misses simply weren’t good enough so approached and worked with a software company to develop a bespoke piece of technology, and an individual who almost doubled medicines use reviews in the branch she was moved to in less than three months.

But one person stood out: someone who has worked in the same pharmacy for over 34 years in a small town that suffers from high unemployment and the problems that come with this, and who was instrumental in the store winning a community engagement award from the local health board. This person was described as “brilliant” by judge and principle associate of Pharmacy Complete, Mike Holden. Fellow judge and NPA chief pharmacist Leyla Hannbeck described her as “a key pharmacy team member who makes a huge contribution within the community to patients and other healthcare professionals”. The 2018 winner of the Day & Night Nurse-supported Outstanding Contribution Award as well as the Numark-sponsored Spotlight Award was Angela Lewis.

Angela has worked her way up at Grangetown Pharmacy in Middlesborough over three and a half decades, starting off as a counter assistant and going out as a delivery driver before becoming a dispensing assistant then pharmacy technician. She was the company’s first accuracy checking technician, seeing this as a way in which she could take on some of the responsibilities shouldered by pharmacist and manager Leonard Forward so that he could “concentrate on the work that only he is allowed to do”. Some of the ways Angela achieves this include taking charge of the medicines bags used by doctors visiting patients out of hours, and the supplies taken out by nurses and paramedics who see housebound patients under local schemes, as well as looking after the pharmacy’s nursing home patients.

It isn’t just the elderly who get Angela’s attention, however. The impression she made on one child who came into the pharmacy was such that he continued to search her out as he grew older. “His life was full of a lot of challenges,” Angela explains. “One day he came in and asked to speak to me. We sat down and he thanked me for being his friend… I had been the most constant person in his life and he had trusted my advice. This conversation really affected me, making me realise how important my work is.”

She continues: “Grangetown is a really small town and because of how close the community is, the pharmacy has become increasingly important. Pharmacy has changed a lot since I started working. We offer self care advice just as often as we hand out prescriptions and aim to raise awareness of problems that can occur so our community can recognise issues and help themselves as soon as they can.”

One of these problems is obesity, and Angela was instrumental in setting up “Grangetown’s Biggest Loser” – an initiative so successful that it was taken over and continues to be run by the local health organisation. Together with other members of her team, Angela takes the healthy living pharmacy message out of the branch as well, giving talks and distributing samples on topics such as head lice and oral hygiene at local schools.

The pharmacy feared for its future when the adjacent surgery closed a few years ago, leaving it as the only retailer on a road Angela describes as a “dead end” in every sense of the term: no passing traffic, no bus route, and even the building that housed the pharmacy was between two burned out shops. Customer numbers dropped significantly, so Angela and the rest of the team decided to take control of the situation by leafleting and contacting places they had nurtured relationships with over the years to encourage footfall. Eventually a “For Let” sign was spotted on a nearby florist and they were able to relocate closer to GP surgeries, a school and other shops. Angela describes the move as “a new lease of life”.

Angela was nominated for this year’s Awards by dispensing assistant colleague Gillian O’Neill, who said: “It’s not just a job, it’s a big part of her life. For Angela, there are no limits, just goals – and she always aims high.” Judge and APTUK president Tess Fenn was in no doubt that both the Outstanding Contribution and Spotlight Awards should go to the same person. “Amongst so many worthy nominations, Angela’s stood out because of her compassion and caring nature,” Tess commented. “Her continued passion for pushing community pharmacy forward, ensuring it is at the heart of the local community, where it can bring much-needed healthcare to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, is obvious. She comes across as a shining beacon; a true pharmacy trailblazer.”