Garry's story

Hello my name is Garry and I’m a pharmacy business manager.

I’ve worked in the NHS for over 30 years and I’ve never known a six-months like the last. I’m a pharmacy business manager. My role covers resource management as well as supporting the senior staff within pharmacy. We’ve been under a lot of operational pressure, and with some staff shielding, we’ve had to adapt. It was and still is a testing time for staff, but the pharmacy team have been utterly fantastic in ensuring our service in the Trust runs smoothly to continue providing medication to all patients within our care, especially with new procedures and systems being put in place.

Due to the large demand on Trusts up and down the country, a mutual aid system was used where if a hospital was unable to receive medication from their usual suppliers, other pharmacies would leap into swift action to provide the medication.

 When I’m not working in the pharmacy, I work for the East of England Ambulance service. In my role for the ambulance service, I support paramedics in emergencies and sometimes provide life-saving care. I’ve really seen the front and back end of the coronavirus response and it’s safe to say it’s been a real eye opener. I would like to thank every staff member at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust; they have shown that good care and interventions can be delivered physically and over the phone. They have continually gone the extra mile.