Beata Mularska was nominated for this year’s Recognition of Excellence Awards by Ade Williams, her pharmacist manager at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol. His instinct to do so was proved spot on as she was named winner of the Team Leader category.

Only four years ago, Betty – as she is known to colleagues and customers – had never worked in a pharmacy. In his nomination, her manager Ade paid testament to the huge amount of effort that Betty has invested in her career, saying: “She has worked tenaciously and diligently to attain multiple qualifications and has led our relatively young team to change the community we serve and raised the profile of the profession... She is a leader who others admire and constantly learn from.”

Betty has a gift for transforming barriers into opportunities: Polish is her mother tongue, but she also speaks English and French and is learning Mandarin in order to add to the 10 languages spoken by the pharmacy’s team members. Multiculturalism is encouraged and embraced at the branch when developing and delivering services, with initiatives such as smoking cessation, weight management, alcohol interventions and sexual health schemes and awareness campaigns promoted via multilingual materials and delivered in whatever language and format best suits the needs of the customers. The team love doing training with Betty, saying she makes it fun and engaging, and her business acumen means the pharmacy is surefooted financially. But Betty understands that processes and standards underpin everything the pharmacy offers, so she works hard to make sure it all runs safely and effectively.

Betty is an effective champion not only for her store within the local community, but also when attending forums where she advocates the profession within the greater healthcare landscape. She also works hard to get GPs and other medics on side, helping them to gain insight into the expertise possessed by pharmacists and their teams, and goes into other branches of the MJ Williams pharmacy chain to help out and support where needed. Betty was instrumental in the pharmacy being one of the first in south west England to become a healthy living pharmacy, and is currently taking her accuracy checking pharmacy technician course. Ade can’t imagine the pharmacy without her, commenting: “She is uncompromising in standards and expectations, but very approachable, caring and fun. She deserves this award because of the impact her example has on the team and how she has contributed selflessly to our goals.”

The judges were in complete agreement, calling Betty an outstanding all-rounder possessed of original ideas coupled with business skills. Judge Mike Holden, principal associate at Pharmacy Complete, summed up nicely: "What can I say? Inspirational, fantastic, brilliant, exemplary!"