CELEBRATION
THIS YEAR SCOTTISH COMMUNITY PHARMACY MARKS THE RETIREMENT OF ONE OF ITS STALWARTS AND CELEBRATES A VERY IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY FOR ANOTHER...
IT’S GOODBYE FROM HIM... BUT NOT GOODBYE FROM HER!
vocal pharmacy contractors as the profession underwent significant changes - not all of which were to the pharmacists’ advantage!
‘As with most pharmacists,’ says Ian, ‘I was certainly pleased that we were increasingly being viewed as the ‘first port of call’ in primary care, but not pleased at the fact that we weren’t receiving any more money for the increased services.’
that’s certainly what happened this year in Inverurie when Ian Will retired after an amazing 43 in the profession!
M
Ian entered the profession in 1971, completed his pre-registration year at Davidson and Kay Pharmacy in Aberdeen, where he stayed for a further two years before moving to Westons for an eighteen-month period. Ian then made the unusual decision to move into hospital pharmacy for the next fifteen years, working across many specialities such as quality control and distribution.
Although he enjoyed the hospital environment, Ian missed the patient- facing contact that he’d had in the community and so, in 1989, he decided to return to his first love, buying over the existing pharmacy in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. Over the next 26 years, Ian was to become one of the most well-known and
18 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
any people choose the New Year to introduce a change in their routine or life and
Regardless of his discontent about several areas of the profession, during his quarter of a century at Inverurie, Ian strived to increase the range and quality of services being offered to his community. As a result, Inverurie underwent not one but three major refurbishments, which have resulted in the state-of-the-art, patient-centred premises, which are now owned and managed by Ian’s son, Galen.
Since his retirement, Ian is enjoying his new life, which, he admits, runs at a slower pace, although grandchildren Loen and Isaac are managing to keeping him and wife Marie busy!
As one of the stalwarts of Scottish community pharmacy, Ian’s presence will be sorely missed, but the Will family legacy lives on in Galen. Scottish Pharmacist wishes him well.
Down in Glasgow, however, there’s another community pharmacist who’s celebrating 40 years in the business with no thought of retiring just yet!
Carol Burns graduated from Strathclyde university in 1975 and spent her pre-reg year at Boots in
customers about the ‘large shoes’ they have to fill!
The shop in the east end, meanwhile, has recently had its own challenges. The area was regenerated for the Commonwealth Games and, as such, the premises had to be demolished, but, ever the problem solver, Carol was able to secure temporary premises against the odds and continued services throughout the turbulent period when there was a shift in the local population.
Hamilton, where she qualified a year later. Carol worked in Boots until she had her first child, Kenneth, in 1981. As her family grew - daughter Nicola was born three years later in 1983, Carol continued to locum, as this gave her the flexibility that her young children needed. Life with husband Thomas and her children was a juggling match for some years but, when Carol’s third child, Jacqueline, came along in 1987, she decided to take the plunge and become an independent contractor.
Carol very quickly acquired Burns pharmacy at Cathkin on the south side of Glasgow, followed, a few years later by the acquisition of a second pharmacy - name? -in the east end of the city. She worked hard to build up a great reputation in those communities she served for more than 20 years, before selling her first pharmacy to her daughter and so-in-law - both pharmacists - who have continued business under the same family name and who are often reminded by
She subsequently moved to brand new premises at the Commonwealth Legacy Hub and is proud to have served this community before, throughout and since the Games.
‘My mum truly embodies what community pharmacy is,’ says daughter Nicola. ‘She has a real genuine care for the communities she has served and her loyal customers remain ever appreciative of her services, even through difficult circumstances. She has always been forward thinking and positive, and her main focus has always been patient care in the community. My mum is an inspiration to her family and peers alike, and is also fulfilling her additional role as a caring grandmother to Abbey and Rory, with another on the way! She is still enjoying working life after having served the industry for 40 years, and, as a family, we would like to celebrate those 40 years she has dedicated to the profession and show our appreciation of her amazing career.’ •
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