Office Team

Role:

As chief executive my main role is to ensure that Community Pharmacy Essex carries out all its duties under its constitution, but there is so much more to it than that. We are directed by the committee, made up of elected and nominated members, who agree a strategy for each 4-year term.

I represent Essex community pharmacy contractors’ interests to a number of stakeholders including our ICBs, local authorities, other representative committees such as the Local Medical Committee and Local Optical Committee, patient groups and local press and media.

This includes responding to market entry applications and appeals, sitting on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments steering groups, participating in medicines optimisation committees, primary care committees, medicines safety groups and various workstreams relating to the pharmacy workforce.

I also attend, on request, contract monitoring, performance and quality visits undertaken by ICB or NHS regional teams.

Working with a strong team we respond to individual queries, and monitor those that suggest a wider pattern is emerging that necessitates a different approach, either locally or through escalation to Community Pharmacy England: We engage with Community Pharmacy England through our regional representative and the fortnightly Local Operations Team meetings.

Background:

I joined Essex Local Pharmaceutical Committee as a part-time business support officer in 2011, and became full time chief officer in January 2020.

Immediately prior to that since 2003 I had been a community pharmacy services commissioner in two different Primary Care Trusts in East London.

I have also worked in community pharmacy, including two independent contractors and the prestigious John Bell and Croydon in central London, in hospital pharmacy and for a few years in a teaching role managing the Pharmacy Technician training programme at Westminster Kingsway college.

Role:

I handle a wide range of administrative tasks for both Community Pharmacy Essex and Healthy Living Partnership. This includes everything from preparing annual reports and completing Data, Security, and Protection toolkits to organizing various meetings, conferences, and events for pharmacy teams. I’m also the first point of contact for contractors’ daily queries, maintain our chemist database, and ensure the smooth running of the office, covering everything from health and safety to general maintenance. My role also overlaps significantly with Healthy Living Partnership Limited’s locally commissioned services, where I manage pharmacy contracts, record-keeping, service reports, invoicing, and payments. And now that our website is live, I’m focused on keeping it updated.

Background:

Before joining the LPC team in 2009, I was a qualified HR Officer with Essex County Council, specialising in pay and conditions. I started my career at the Council right after leaving school, working in various departments and steadily progressing. After a few years on a career break, I was excited to join the LPC team.

Role:

As the Business Intelligence Lead, my primary focus is to develop a robust reporting solution for CPEsx. I’m responsible for identifying and acquiring machine-processable data, then building the systems to ingest this information. My goal is to transform raw data into actionable intelligence through comprehensive reports, also ensuring it’s readily available for any ad-hoc requests. As this project evolves, I’ll be working to enrich the data, providing even more powerful and insightful analytical options

Background:

My career spans over 28 years in data and information. I spent over a decade in the NHS, specializing in information and data warehousing, and hospital management. Prior to that, I dedicated more than 10 years to the banking sector in programming and analysis roles. My experience also includes six years in Life & Pensions and Shares, where I continued to focus on programming and analysis, and two years in publishing as a Data Analyst.