Vincent Harkin. Have been a pharmacist for 25 years. Proudly took over our family community pharmacy from my father 23 years ago, which will be open 60 years in 2021. We bought Glass pharmacy this year to ensure that another local community pharmacy remained exactly that!! Although it was a daunting experience, we have enjoyed every minute of the unusual, crazy, busy whirlwind that this has been during Covid! (We are incredibly proud of how our 2 teams have meshed and worked tirelessly together.) As a community pharmacist you have to be extremely adaptable in your role. No 2 days are the same. The part of my work I particularly enjoy is making a difference to people’s lives, this can range from the serious side of my job and delivering palliative care drugs to a cancer patient to the finding a ‘long discontinued’ face cream for a loyal customer. I enjoy the new roles pharmacy are receiving and have particularly welcomed the roll out of the flu vaccine service. I am a husband to Nuala and daddy to Grace 10 and Luke 4 (and a toy poodle called Luna! 🙄). We live in Belfast and love spending time walking on the beach and the local park together. I am, of course, dedicated to my profession but my other great love is music and you’ll find me in my home studio during any spare moments tinkering on my latest creation, (although there haven’t been any of those spare moments for a while).

I have had a wide and varied experience in pharmacy including hospital, community, academia and primary care. I now work in Dumfries and Galloway where I have a passion for improving care for patients particularly in pain and respiratory. I am a mindfulness teacher and have been working with pharmacists and GPs in the area to offer mindfulness for pain courses to our patients.

Community and Practice Pharmacist working at Kepple Lane Pharmacy & Garstang Medical Practice. 15 years as a Community Pharmacist Manager for small retail pharmacies, experienced in the challenges faced within the community sector and providing effective pharmacy services. Independent Prescribing Pharmacist working within a Medicines Management Team in a large medical practice within a rural Lancashire village town. Pre-registration Pharmacist tutor for cross sector placements - split placements within community pharmacy and General Practice. I am passionate about pharmacy and my profession, with over 20 years of experience across community pharmacy and primary care sector. Excited about the advances for pharmacists and the challenges we face within the healthcare settings.