Life in pharmacy changed drastically after pharmacy technician Abi’s first day at Well Pharmacy in Rochdale: Boris Johnson announced the national lockdown

What’s more, in that same week, the store’s pharmacist manager was told she must isolate for 12 weeks. So Abi stepped up and put her four years’ pharmacy experience to good use.

More team members were forced to self-isolate, adding to the already increasing workload, and Abi came up with a new strategy to cope with the long queues forming outside. “I encouraged the team to ask patients for contact numbers so we could text them when their medication was ready so they could avoid queuing unnecessarily,” she says. She also dedicated one member of staff to keeping key OTC lines stocked, such as hand sanitiser, face masks and toilet roll.

Keen to continue delivering on her pharmacy technician duties, Abi found herself working almost double her contracted hours to dispense triple the regular number of prescriptions to maintain efficiency and a high level of customer service. The judges described Abi’s efforts as “sensational” and named her highly commended for the Covid-19 Hero Award.

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