1 Min In Practice
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When a friend working in pharmacy encouraged Jordan Back to apply for a role behind the counter, he began his career not knowing where it would take him or what to expect from it. Now, seven years later, Jordan is an accuracy checking dispenser – and that’s not all.
Made a manager
“Jordan has been incredible,” said executive assistant and pharmacist coordinator at Paydens, Alison Ware. After only a few years, Jordan had progressed so much that he was made the manager of another Paydens pharmacy. “I managed that store for a year and learnt a lot about my day-to-day job,” Jordan reflected. “I have learnt a lot about managing a team effectively and I’ve applied this to [my current role] to ensure the team is run well.” Working as a manager for a year also helped Jordan learn much about patient safety, he says, which is a vital and non-negotiable aspect of running a safe pharmacy. After one year, Jordan returned to his original pharmacy, Westons (where he has been the rest of his career) to focus on his responsibilities as an accuracy checking dispenser. The skills that he gained in the manager role, however, are ones he uses every day, and will use as he continues along his pharmacy journey.
“Jordan has more patients on the stop smoking service than the rest of the pilot pharmacies added together”
Power to the pilot
One of Jordan’s main focuses in the pharmacy, and something he is extremely proud of, is his integral role in protecting the lung health of his community. “He ran a pilot across Brighton known as the Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) pilot,” said Alison. “Patients would be checked to see how healthy their lungs are likely to become across the next 10 years. As a result of the findings, it motivated patients to sign themselves up for the local stop smoking service which has helped many patients to quit smoking.” Jordan immediately took to the service. “My role within the TLHC is to have a one-to-one consultation with patients referred from the Lung Health Check team to continue their attempt to quit smoking,” he says. “My role is crucial as I am there to encourage and help my clients to quit smoking in a safe and effective manner. I see patients over a 12-week course and offer them Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) supplies as well as free help and guidance.” The service is an important starting point to lung screening in England and aims to create extra smoking cessation capacity in primary care. It also seeks to reduce morbidity and mortality from smoking, and to reduce health inequalities associated with higher rates of smoking. Jordan’s work, and successful work at that, is hence extremely important to the health and wellness of customers in his community.
“My role is crucial as I am there to encourage and help my clients to quit smoking in a safe and effective manner”
Seeking out success
Jordan’s approach to the service has made him a go-to source of knowledge for TLHC and smoking cessations services, having done over 250 consultations himself. Alison commented on Jordan’s expertise in this area, saying: “As a result of this pilot and Jordan’s desire to make it a success, he often goes to other clinics across Brighton to help them and ensure it is also a success in their clinics. He also often goes to our other Paydens branches in the area to cover the smoking cessation service when they need an extra hand. As it stands, Jordan has more patients on the stop smoking service than the rest of the pilot pharmacies added together. He also attends weekly meetings with the NHS team to discuss the service.”
Jordan’s commitment to helping customers follow through with stopping smoking is steadfast. “I had a customer attend my clinic for a second time. They had had a health scare which caused them to start smoking again. I invited the client in on the same day and got them back on the programme,” he says. “I managed to get them to quit again. I also offered help and support and advised them [that] we are here if they wish to talk about anything else other than smoking.” It is Jordan’s persistence and inability to give up on customers that results in his (and their) triumph. “I feel I have made this [offerring] successful by tailoring my service to each individual customer, ensuring I am available around their schedule and following up with calls to the patient at each crucial stage as well as two weeks after their last appointment,” says Jordan.
Becoming a stop smoking practitioner, Jordan remarked, is one of his most memorable moments in the pharmacy. “I love being able to help people achieve their goals and feel better health wise. I feel like I have put my heart and soul into the community.”
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