PRESCRIPTION FOR CHANGE
How Sehar Shahid is Transforming Online Pharmacy and Championing Women Along the Way
When two seismic personal events happened in quick succession, it resulted in a huge change of direction for Sehar Shahid’s pharmacy career, one she had never planned for. Six years on, Sehar has been instrumental in improving the way online pharmacies operate and are perceived. She has also become an advocate for female pharmacy leaders and the wider pharmacy sector as well as a role model for the treatment of women’s health and weight management.
“I never had any plans to have a portfolio career, I thought I was just going to be a traditional pharmacist. I did my pre-registration with Boots and then qualified and became a store manager, working my way up the corporate ladder and going on to work in bigger stores with bigger problems and I thought that's what I would do for the next 40 years,” explained Sehar.
But when she had her second child in 2019 something shifted in Sehar and she started to think that maybe she didn’t want to work long hours any more. What she really craved was more flexibility so she could be at home more and be more present with her children.
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“Then at the beginning of 2020 I lost my brother very suddenly. That was a huge trigger in making me realise I needed to do something different. I didn't want to be working for someone else as I realised life is too short. So that really pushed me towards letting go of that career,” said Sehar.
Sehar had a small health and wellness business that she had been building for a couple of years and the income from that allowed her to significantly reduce her hours at Boots. An opportunity then arose for her to work in a primary care role, looking after care home patients across Renfrewshire and being responsible for their medication reviews and optimisation.
“I had always wanted a more clinical role. When the primary care role came up it was part time and I was able to work from home. That allowed me to go back to university and do my independent prescribing qualification,” she said.
Stepping Into Online Pharmacy
It was after this that Sehar took her first step into the world of online pharmacy.
“Someone I knew had set up an online pharmacy and had issues with the GPhC around complying with regulations. While I knew nothing about online pharmacy at that point, I did have a really good governance head from my time at Boots as I was always sent to the stores that weren’t working properly to turn them around,” she said.
“At that point there was only about four pages of guidance from the GPhC for online pharmacies and a lot were struggling as a result. I went in there and I rebuilt the whole business from the ground up.”
Sehar created all the SOPs and policies the pharmacy required and ensured everything was done properly. When the pharmacy was inspected a few months later the inspector was
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