To mark World Pharmacists Day, we thought we would speak to one of our own to celebrate the role.
We are delighted to introduce you to Rubina Mughal, an Advanced Clinical Pharmacist in Primary Care but also taking on a role as Integrated Urgent care Pharmacist for 111…Urgent Care Pharmacist for short! She told us more about her role at DHU…
“I’ve been a qualified Pharmacist since 1999 and previously owned two pharmacies of my own. Now alongside my dual role now, I have experience working in telephone triage with 111, within an urgent care setting and a GP practice.
“In my Primary Care role, I need to get to know the patient, understand their very specific health needs, any medication they may already be taking, the nature, severity, duration and anything else specific about their symptoms before making a diagnosis and understanding how to treat it. I really get to know them well as an individual.
“My 111 role is slightly different, most significantly as I don’t physically get to see my patients, or necessarily know as much about their individual circumstance. This means talking, listening and working out what I need to do to make them well. I have a wealth of medical specialists working at DHU that I can call on for help and we work together as a team to ensure that person gets the right advice and knows exactly what to do when we give them that attention.
“In primary care, patients have a range of long term conditions including hypertension, heart failure, asthma, copd, chronic pain, menopause symptoms, or more acute symptoms like UTIs. The relationship and trust builds over time. My 111 patients call mainly with minor ailments such as UTIs, sore throat, conjunctivitis, lost medication or advice about why a medication is perhaps not working.
“I’d say a Pharmacist needs to be inquisitive, personable, able to adapt to different situations. To problem solve and open to being challenged. Nobody knows the patient’s body or condition like patients do and you have to trust what they are telling you.
“It’s becoming a much more specialised role and I feel we are being valued far more in terms of what we can do for the wider health system. For example, infected insect bites, ear infections, UTI's, relief from flu symptoms, minor rashes; your community pharmacist can help walk in patients saving the patient time and releasing more GP appointments for those who really need them.
“We have more responsibility clinically as well, prescribing medicines whilst GPs and Nurses will ask us for advice in diagnosing and prescribing. There are programmes for Foundation Pharmacists, Advanced Pharmacists and Consultant Pharmacist. It’s an exciting time and gratifying within the profession, opening doors for others considering this as a profession.
“I’m very proud to be a Pharmacist and delighted to be working for an organisation such as DHU who value the role in more than one area of healthcare. I love helping people to understand more about their condition, be there for my patients and to be able to share what I do, hopefully inspiring others to follow in the profession, which is why pharmacy so special to me.”