Thanks to her local connections and healthy living knowledge, Lydia Wyatt is helping to steer her customers along the road to a healthier lifestyle

When Ore Village Pharmacy became a healthy living pharmacy (HLP) in March 2013, medicines counter assistant Lydia Wyatt was the obvious candidate for the important role of healthy living champion. Thanks to her involvement in a local fitness initiative, sound knowledge of nutrition and exercise, and friendly, approachable nature, Lydia is well equipped to support customers in making healthier lifestyle choices. Lydia started working at Ore Village Pharmacy on Saturdays at the age of 15 and enjoyed the work so much that she decided to stay on and train to be a medicines counter assistant (MCA).

Meanwhile, to pursue her interest in sports and fitness, Lydia gained a qualification in sport and leisure at Hastings College. A few years ago, she also began volunteering for Active Hastings, an initiative run by Hastings Borough Council, which runs free and affordable sports and fitness activities for people of all ages and abilities. So, when Lydia was offered the chance to become a healthy living champion by her pharmacist Sue Hicks, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to combine her passions for pharmacy and fitness while continuing to develop her skills and knowledge.

“We wanted someone young and enthusiastic for the role,” explains Sue.“Lydia was already clued up on diet and exercise and becoming a healthy living champion has enabled her to put her interests, knowledge and contacts to good use.”

Lydia (right), seen here with her colleague and smoking cessation advisor Donna Smith, has been able to combine her passions for pharmacy and fitness while continuing to develop her skills

 

Local knowledge

Recruiting patients onto the pharmacy’s services, or signposting them to services elsewhere, is a key part of Lydia’s healthy living champion role. As a healthy living pharmacy, Ore Village Pharmacy offers a wide range of services to its local community, including stop smoking, blood pressure monitoring, supervised consumption, palliative care and the C card scheme. The pharmacy also has strong connections with other health providers in the area, including the network of over 20 HLPs across East Sussex LPC.

“When people ask for help in the pharmacy, I know exactly where to signpost them,” says Lydia. “For example, someone might ask about NRT products, so I’d talk to them about why they want to quit smoking and sign them up to our stop smoking service, which is run by my colleague Donna. Or they might want to lose a bit of weight but can’t afford the gym so I’d tell them about the free fitness classes at Active Hastings. I also give out simple tips that people can fit into their daily lives, like walking or cycling instead of taking the bus or driving, and taking the stairs instead of the lift.”

Healthy conversations

Lydia feels perfectly at ease discussing potentially sensitive topics like weight loss and alcohol use with her customers, partly because the healthy living champion course equipped her so well, and also because she is on friendly terms with many of her regular customers. “The course involved roleplay and different scenarios to teach us how to talk to people in different circumstances about smoking, alcohol, healthy eating and exercise,” Lydia explains. “We’re a medium sized town and I know many of my customers by name and they’re very happy to ask me for advice.”

Lydia also makes good use of health campaigns and resources to start conversations on healthy lifestyles with customers. This has included putting up posters and handing out NHS Quit Kits around Stoptober and No Smoking Day, as well as leaving out copies of AAH Pharmaceuticals’ All About Health magazine, which often prompts inquiries. “People might read something in the All About Health magazine about preserving their eye health, for example, and then come back to ask me about products,” she says.

Reaching her potential

During the six years that Lydia has worked at Ore Village Pharmacy she has received many opportunities to train and develop. She is currently attending training sessions to be able to provide the C card scheme – an initiative that provides discreet access to free condoms for young people – and hopes that “the people using the scheme will be able to relate to me because I’m close to their age”. In addition, Lydia is part way through a dispensing assistant course, and ultimately hopes to reach the level of pharmacy technician.

“I want to progress as much as I can and reach my potential. I come in an hour early to do my training and fit it around my working day. I find it really interesting to learn about how the different medicines work and I have lots of support from Sue,” she says.

“Working in pharmacy has turned out to be a great career choice for me; it’s nice to be in a job that is helping to change people’s lives.”