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Sponsored: ‘A career with LloydsPharmacy offers a lot more’

Published on: 12 Feb 2019

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At LloydsPharmacy, we facilitate support and learning to provide more opportunities to our pharmacists. Find out how we helped Feroz Jussab in his journey to becoming a mental health pharmacist.

LloydsPharmacy, part of McKesson, is the first choice employer for many pharmacists across the UK. Feroz Jussab works as a Mental Health Pharmacist in the Caludon Centre in Coventry, an onsite pharmacy with the NHS trust. He says: “They’ve always been the first choice in my family to receive healthcare from. I see them at the forefront of community pharmacy, because of their presence and innovations.” Feroz is also completing a postgraduate certificate in psychiatry and therapeutics, with support from LloydsPharmacy and the NHS.

Mental health isn’t the only speciality available with LloydsPharmacy. Ranging from prison and outpatient departments to coaching roles and many more, Feroz thinks “it’s important that those pharmacists interested in starting a career with LloydsPharmacy don’t just see them as a community pharmacy chain.” LloydsPharmacy offers budding pre-reg pharmacists fantastic opportunities.

The same is true for pharmacists who have been in the industry for a longer period. Feroz helps to dispel the misconception that if you start in community pharmacy, you’ll never specialise in a clinical role, because, as he demonstrates, this is simply not true. 

When Feroz began his journey with LloydsPharmacy, he took part in their Leading Everyday programme. The bespoke leadership and management training helped him to grow in skill and confidence, because “LloydsPharmacy don’t just invest in capturing young talent, they also aim to retain and supplement candidate development from the very beginning”.

Feroz got the support he needed to quickly progress to a community pharmacy managerial role, where he and his team would start an initiative. By spending extra time with mental health patients, they were able to identify. a more vulnerable demographic and quickly signpost them to relevant help. LloydsPharmacy acknowledges employee passion, especially when it’s demonstrated by proactivity and enthusiasm. That’s why Feroz was selected to take up a mental health speciality contract to enable him to further flourish in the field where he showed promise. At the same time, Feroz was made aware of a postgraduate certificate he could complete alongside his new role. 

“Although this wasn’t a requirement, I was encouraged to pursue a postgraduate certificate so I could become better positioned to deal with more complex mental health queries. I have complete financial sponsorship, and I’m given the moral support and the extra time I need to study, which is amazing,” says Feroz. “It’s good to know that the company can see where my strengths lie and can offer a bespoke contract to help their employees gain qualifications and education.”

Feroz says: “If I hadn’t gone into mental health, I would’ve liked to explore Area Management as an alternative career path. It would’ve given me the chance to try different styles of management and share a closer relationship with various stakeholders in the sector. Developing the talent pool in the community pharmacy setting would be an interesting prospect.” Area managers are responsible for the career progression of their employees, using development discussions to figure out a way of facilitating people’s goals and aspirations. Feroz says: “It’s very easy to move across different specialities and roles, because LloydsPharmacy want to help harness your skills to the area where you’re most passionate.”

Feroz’s advice to pre-reg students is to remain curious. “Dare to challenge yourself and explore as much as early as possible, and get the best patient outcomes with every interaction. There are plenty of opportunities available to you, the key is to find where your passion lies.”

After completing his postgraduate certificate, Feroz wants to stay with LloydsPharmacy and become more involved with patients on the mental health ward. He also has the opportunity to explore more specific roles within mental health, such as a prescribing role.

The future of pharmacy looks very promising. It’s evolving dramatically and it’s hard to predict how the industry will look in five to 10 years. Despite this, Feroz says: “I can see myself having a long career with LloydsPharmacy, because I’m confident in their innovation and their ability to evolve at the speed the pharmacy sector demands.”