AT THE HEART OF PHARMACY
Karen McWilliam, BD Rowa Territory Sales Manager for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, tells SP how pharmacy has always played a major role in her life…
t is little wonder that I have ended up where I have in my career today. My earliest memories of being in a pharmacy go back to the 80s, since both my parents worked within the pharmacy industry.
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My mother was a pharmacy technician for a large multiple and my father was a pharmacy and IT manager for one of Scotland’s largest independent chains.
Throughout my early years, I spent much of my summer holidays reading books in the pharmacy’s tearoom!
In my teenage years my summer holidays took on more of a formal turn and I progressed to filling bottles, sweeping up and emptying bins in between maths lessons from the pharmacist.
By the time I turned 16, I had been promoted to using the Tumatic tablet counter to prepack the ibuprofen and paracetamol. A career in pharmacy beckoned and I willingly answered the call!
Throughout the 90s, I worked my way up in a variety of roles for some of the UK’s biggest
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pharmacy chains, while still training and studying to become a pharmacy technician. This culminated in me working as a dispensing technician for the Scottish Prison Service. Here, I experienced for the first time a newly-established hub and spoke environment, where I dispensed all the drugs for Scottish prisons.
I then decided to go in a new direction and moved into PMR system sales. Being able to combine my passion for pharmacy with the challenges of sales was the perfect environment for me to continue my personal and professional development. In 2013, I decided that I was ready to take on a new challenge and I moved to work with Rowa Systems for ARX, known today as BD Rowa™.
In recent years, pharmacy has clearly shown its desire to change: due in no small part to the new and evolving pharmacy contract and pharmacies need to consider how their premises will meet patient requirements in the future.
We’ve already seen an increase in demand for consultation services due to a combination of
Covid-19 and the Pharmacy First initiative and, for me, delivering automated solutions that deliver real financial and operational benefits is a source of great personal pride and satisfaction: none more so than when I see at first hand, customers witnessing the value that automation has added to their business. The transformation from a chaotic and busy workplace to the calmness that comes with changing any workflow to become more efficient is evident.
The smiles that greet me after only a few weeks from investing in automation, is an unmistakable sign that they have made the right decision. Creating an opportunity to increase existing staff capacity to offer more consultations either for medical advice or other advice services such as contraception, smoking cessation or weight-loss is critical for their businesses to stay ahead.
Knowing I helped these customers grow their businesses using BD Rowa™ products makes me extremely proud, and I am honoured to be part of - and represent - BD Rowa™ in the ever- evolving pharmacy world that’s been a massive part of my life.
MY EARLIEST MEMORIES OF BEING IN A PHARMACY GO BACK TO THE 80S, SINCE BOTH MY PARENTS WORKED WITHIN THE PHARMACY INDUSTRY
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