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Larissa Lankoande comes from a family of healthcare professionals, doctors and midwives. “I have always had a strong interest in healthcare, and have always been interested in helping people and caring for others,” says Larissa.
“I started my first role in the pharmacy in the dispensary and this is where I saw that pharmacy really is at the heart of the community. I saw the impact that we could have on people’s daily lives. My passion for pharmacy grew and grew.”
Now, more than a decade later, Larissa’s passion – as well as her expertise and leadership skills – continues to climb.
Dealing with distress
As the dispensary manager, Larissa’s hands are full each day. This is mainly with the tasks associated with running the dispensary and organising her team, including dealing with shortages of stock, which has been a problem for over a year. “The main challenge at work now is medicine shortage,” Larissa says. “I feel so bad about this.”
There can be issues when patients do not understand that it is not the pharmacy’s fault that the medicines are out of stock. “That is where the abuse comes from,” says Larissa.
Her sentiment echoes the frustration felt by pharmacy teams across the UK, but she says that taking an empathetic approach has helped her and her customers reach a point of understanding.
“This has taught me patience,” she says. “It has also taught me to be in their shoes and feel their pain of not being able to get a medication they may have been using for years and now is out of stock.
“I always listen to them and try to make them understand that we can discuss the matter with the doctor to issue an alternative that could benefit them. Most of the time they understand, and it resolves the situation instantly.”
“She is the backbone of the pharmacy”
Customer focus
Diffusing tense situations is also helped by Larissa’s close connection to her customers, most of whom she knows by name.
“They love me calling them by their names,” she says. “It creates a solid bond, and they ask me anything they need – whenever they want to. Sometimes, they come in just for a chat, as many of them live on their own, and I can see that talking to me fills their day.”
Just as she plays a positive part in her customers’ lives, Larissa is inspired by her customers daily. “One of our customers is 97, and she still does all of her shopping by herself,” says Larissa.
“Whenever she comes in, I always tell her how she has made my day because I dream of still being able to shop for myself at that age.”
Larissa’s community is made up of many people who live alone or don’t have the ability to collect their medicines, and as the pharmacy is in a rural area, much of the medicine needs to be delivered.
“I am the one who delivers the medication after hours, and I am very happy to do this,” Larissa says. “I also help those who struggle to remember when and which medication to take… they have many different things to take. I suggest that they make use of dosette boxes, and I make these for them, which helps a lot.”
Putting care at the centre
When she is not dealing with medicine shortages or chatting with customers, Larissa’s days are spent checking deliveries, dispensing medication, following up with the pharmacist for New Medicine Service reviews, making sure the pharmacy is tidy and clean, and checking stock and owings.
Larissa also checks the EPS for new prescriptions and helps get them ready for patients, and she even organises staff holidays and requests.
“We are seven in the team, and we relate nicely,” says Larissa. “We communicate perfectly in order to make the job extremely smooth when one is on holiday or away for the day.”
Chidi Egeolu, Hado Pharmacy director and superintendent pharmacist, has only positive things to say about Larissa.
“Larissa has worked with us since 2015, and she has never called in a day sick. She helps the pharmacists, staff and patients alike. She is knowledgeable, she is ready to learn and she knows how to work with the surgeries, the doctors and other health professionals to achieve the best outcome for the patients. She is the backbone of the pharmacy.”
Larissa’s caring nature, her background of being surrounded and raised by healthcare professionals, and her readiness to learn seem to have combined perfectly for her career in the pharmacy.
“I feel that it is an honour to contribute to my pharmacy and my community,” she says. “It is normal and natural for me to care for others.”
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In Practice