2022 Most Outstanding Community Pharmacist awards – open for nominations

The 2022 Most Outstanding Community Pharmacist award is open for nominations. The award, presented by the Australian Patients Association and sponsored by the Pharmacy Guild, is part of the APA’s Health Industry Awards which also recognise Most Outstanding GP, Most Outstanding Hospital, Most Outstanding Health Reporter and Most Outstanding Patient Innovation.

General Manager of the Australian Patients Association Jas Streten said community pharmacists were pivotal in providing primary care to Australians, and this role had been highlighted by their work during COVID-19.

“You only have to look at the fact that community pharmacists have delivered more than 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccinations since July last year to see how important they are,” he said.

“On top of this they have maintained their usual functions of looking after the health and wellbeing of their patients and the communities they serve.”

Mr Streten said that for many Australians, their community pharmacist was the first person they approached about health issues.

“Many Australians get their day-to-day general health advice from pharmacists,” he said.

“We have found that the importance of community pharmacists is recognised in the comments patients have made in nominations from previous years.

“The recognition of their integral role in how people manage their life is reflected in comments like ‘committed pharmacist who has served my family through a sick husband and sick children’, and ‘places the well-being of his customers far above making a profit and has talked me out of buying unnecessary
products’.

“Patients nominating community pharmacists is a way of recognising the time, effort and contribution each of them makes to people’s day-to day health and quality of life. But colleagues can also nominate a pharmacist for this very prestigious award.

‘With inflation up by over 5% per annum and the cost of living rising, 1 in 5 people are finding prescription medicines unaffordable. As a result, people are either delaying or not able to afford their prescription. Community Pharmacists are at the forefront helping those in need.”

Criteria for the Most Outstanding Community Pharmacist award include:
• Pharmacist must have excellent pharmacy and medication dispensation skills.
• Pharmacist is readily available and easy to contact.
• Pharmacist is caring, sincere and empathetic.
• Pharmacist has strong interpersonal skills.
• The pharmacist is well respected with a good reputation.