Rupen Patel has climbed the pharmacy career ladder and become an invaluable asset at LloydsPharmacy

Named Rising Star winner at this year’s Awards, Rupen Patel has risen through the ranks from Saturday boy at LloydsPharmacy in Goring on Thames, Oxfordshire, via healthcare assistant, dispensing assistant and non-pharmacist manager, to his recent appointment as area change coach. He has now been promoted again, this time to a regional level, and is responsible for overseeing the establishment of new technologies and initiatives at some 300 branches of the company.

This rapid climb of the career ladder makes Rupen sound incredibly ambitious, but he says that he took a while to find his feet when he first started work at the branch aged just 16 years. “It gradually became more than a job and turned into a passion,” he says, adding: “Now, working with customers and helping them get the care they need is like a vocation.”

Rupen strives to make every contact count, even for non-regular customers. He recalls a time when he referred a lady to the pharmacist because he felt she needed to see her GP. He wasn’t wrong, and the lady was sufficiently bowled over by the level of care she received to write a letter from her home hundreds of miles away, thanking the staff for encouraging her to make a doctor’s appointment that resulted in her being diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Rupen also has strong views on the role of pharmacy in the community, putting on health awareness days at his branch, going into a local school to talk about medicines safety, and never minding when he is recognised and approached for advice by customers outside of the pharmacy.

His job title includes the word “coach” and this is exactly Rupen’s management style, formerly at store level and now across a huge area of the country that stretches from Bristol in the west to Norfolk in the east. “I try to pass on any knowledge I can to help and support them, and want to put them on the same progression path that I’ve benefitted from,” he says. “Also, it’s a target driven business, so I try to make it fun for the team to hit those targets, for example by giving them rewards.”

Rupen was nominated for the Awards by LloydsPharmacy area manager Clare Moore, who said: “Rupen is a rising star. Not only has he cultivated a fantastic team at Goring, since joining the area he has been an invaluable asset to me and helped me significantly... I cannot praise him enough.”

The judging panel agreed that Rupen was “one to watch”, with pharmacy consultant Deborah Evans remarking: “Rupen has made rapid progress over the last couple of years and repeatedly goes the extra mile for his customers, patients and colleagues.” As Right Medicine Pharmacy retail head Richard Stephenson added: “There’s a lot more to come from this chap!”