Cultivating relationships

“Give back, be kind, be good to people.” These are the words that first encouraged Farhaan Musaji to embark on a career in pharmacy. As a teenager, Farhaan was at a crossroads after finishing school; to go on to do his A-Levels and take the University route, or to start a career straight away. Although he finished with good grades – A’s and B’s – he didn’t know what he wanted to do next. “When I was undecided, [my dad] suggested pharmacy, as there is a large part of the job that involves helping people.” Fast forward 11 years, Farhaan, known to his customers and community as ‘Faz’, is a pharmacy dispenser with his sights on qualifying as an accuracy checking technician.

Farhaan’s journey began like many in the pharmacy, as an apprentice straight out of school, looking to learn and take on as much as possible. He was then a locum dispenser for four years before becoming full-time three years ago. “Day-to-day, I’m pretty much hands-on with everything!” says Farhaan. From dispensing and labelling to managing and ordering stock, Farhaan’s day is jam-packed. “I also sell over-the-counter (OTC) products, advise customers and do the methadone service.” Some of the methadone patients have been customers for years, which has allowed Farhaan to develop relationships with each person. “With this service, I think it is important to know people by name. We are quite good friends, really,” he said.

Important relationships

For Farhaan, it is not only important to know your customers personally to encourage trust and approachability, but also because some customers rely on their relationship with him to understand their prescriptions. “We’re in quite a diverse area, where we have a lot of Asian people, and English isn’t their first language. You can imagine how difficult it must be, trying to understand.” Farhaan notes that the system can be confusing for some people, who go for their seasoned appointment, are given a prescription and ‘that’s it’. “That’s where I come in, I can speak Urdu and Gujarati, so it is a big help. I explain to them things that they wouldn’t understand in English, like if they are getting benefits, or if I need to explain exemptions to them – it can make a big difference knowing whether they have to pay for something or not.” Farhaan’s language skills are a huge asset to the pharmacy, especially as he estimates that around 75 per cent of the pharmacy’s community belong to this group.

On top of working full time, Farhaan finds the energy to study towards his NVQ3 qualification which will see him qualify in a year and a half. “With everything I do at work with dispensing and labelling, I don’t have time to do my course at work. I do it all at home. I am quite busy now,” says Farhaan. He is encouraged to continue with his studies after waiting a long time for the opportunity to arise. “Ever since I became NVQ2-qualified, when I was around 16 years old – a long time ago now – I wanted to go on to Level 3. I just never had the opportunity to move on to it. Now that I’ve finally got the opportunity, I’ve literally just grabbed it with two hands.”