ANYONE wondering why members of NHS Borders Pharmacy Team seem to have bigger smiles on their faces these days, need look no further than the recent 2017 Scottish Pharmacist Awards.

Held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, the glittering social event last month witnessed the cream of Scotland’s pharmacy sector gather to celebrate the achievements of their community and hospital colleagues.

These were the eighth annual awards and covered every aspect of the work prevalent in Scottish pharmacy today and, as always, a huge number of entries flooded in from every health board in Scotland across all nine award categories.

It was the collaborative approach to improving patient safety by the NHS Borders pharmacists that saw them rewarded with the much-coveted Hospital Pharmacy Team of the Year Award, sponsored by Daiichi Sankyo.

The judges of the award were particularly impressed by the team’s ‘extensive training and development’ in order to fulfill its new role, hailing it as a “brilliant” example of both collaborative and multidisciplinary working and excellent integration of the pharmacists into the wider multidisciplinary team.

Attending the event on behalf of the NHS Borders pharmacy team were Cathryn Park, Lynne Taylor, Lyndsey Cross and Louise Henderson.

Alison Wilson, Director of Pharmacy at NHS Borders was delighted for her staff: “It was really great for the team to be recognized in this way.

“They have all worked really hard over the last few years to change and improve the service they provide and this well deserved award reflects that.”

More than 450 professionals flocked to the capital conference centre for what is the pharmacy profession in Scotland’s leading awards ceremony.

In addition to the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Dr Rose Marie Parr, the awards were also attended by Alex MacKinnon, interim Chief Executive Officer at Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland and Professor Harry McQuillan, Chief Executive Officer, Community Pharmacy Scotland.

The evening ended with the presentation of a Merit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Pharmacy to Mr MacKinnon, who is currently Interim CEO of Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland.