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The great work independent pharmacists and their teams do to improve the health and wellbeing of people across the UK was celebrated at the Independent Pharmacy Awards yesterday.

Leading figures from the pharmacy sector and pharmaceutical executives were at the House of Commons to see six awards given out to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in recognition of their inspired work in their local communities.

Muhammad Zaheer, who runs Shelley’s Pharmacy in Birmingham, was crowned Independent Pharmacist of the Year for the excellent service he provides patients. The awards judges were highly impressed by his strong clinical leadership and effective business management.

His pharmacy has delivered more than 20,000 Covid and 10,000 flu vaccinations, including outreach services for patients in their homes and care settings, ensuring vulnerable people can access essential protection.

Zaheer’s team has delivered over 13,000 Pharmacy First consultations, helping thousands of patients receive timely treatment while reducing pressure on GP services. He has provided more than 800 ambulatory blood pressure assessments through the hypertension case-finding service, referring 60 per cent of patients for further medical assessment. 

Zaheer, who is an independent prescriber, has also developed a successful weight management clinic, supporting more than a thousand patients to make significant improvements to their health.

He has had a powerful impact on patient care, particularly identifying serious conditions through pharmacy consultations, including one occasion where a prompt assessment led to an emergency hospital referral for a suspected acute stroke.

Anna Matthews, who owns Nanty Pharmacy in Maesteg, Wales, and Zain Younis, who runs Campbeltown Pharmacy in Scotland, were highly commended.

UK's first pharmacy-based contraceptive implant services

The Pharmacy Innovation of the Year award went to Matt Harvey and his wife Fay, the owners of Green Lane Pharmacy in Liverpool. They helped pioneer one of the UK's first community pharmacy-based contraceptive implant services.

The Liverpool Contraceptive Implant Pilot expands access to long-acting reversible contraception while reducing barriers faced by patients accessing traditional services. It was created through a partnership between Green Lane Pharmacy, Liverpool City Council, Axess Sexual Health and Community Pharmacy Liverpool to address a gap in access to long-acting reversible contraception.

Local research identified that almost 30 per cent of women would be willing to receive contraceptive implants in a community pharmacy setting, while increasing demand for long-acting contraception was leading to extended waiting times in general practice and specialist sexual health services.

Rather than simply transferring activity from existing providers, the project sought to expand access by offering patients an additional, convenient and highly accessible location for care.

Green Lane Pharmacy was selected to deliver the pilot because of its expertise in women's health, existing contraceptive services and purpose-built consultation facilities, including a dedicated treatment room suitable for implant procedures.

Harvey and his colleagues completed specialist Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare training to obtain letters of competence, while new patient group directions, standard operating procedures and indemnity arrangements were developed to support safe delivery.

The impact of the pilot has exceeded expectations. During its first nine months, 157 women accessed the service, including 105 contraceptive implant insertions, 23 implant removals and 29 implant replacements.

Simon Harris from Cadbury Heath Pharmacy & Health Clinic in Bristol and Hema Patel from Cross Chemist in Essex were highly commended.

Displaying over 200 Pharmacy First appointments every week 

Christchurch Pharmacy in Braintree, Essex, were named Pharmacy Team of the Year. Led by pharmacist Baba Akomolafe, the team has transformed a traditional community pharmacy into a multidisciplinary neighbourhood health hub where technology, clinical expertise and collaborative working combine to deliver accessible, person-centred healthcare.

The team includes three pharmacists, three accredited checking technicians, four dispensing assistants, a private GP, healthcare practitioner, healthcare assistant and administrative colleagues.

The team also fundamentally redesigned the pharmacy around clinical care. Investment in a dispensing robot, workflow management software, digital patient pathways, a redesigned website and a 24-hour prescription collection point has streamlined dispensing processes and released significant pharmacist capacity for patient-facing clinical services.

However, Christchurch Pharmacy's innovation has not been limited to its own patients. Recognising that improving access requires collaboration across the primary care network, the team developed CPNBS.com, a digital platform displaying more than 200 Pharmacy First appointments every week across eight pharmacies in Braintree.

Star Pharmacy in Westminster and Cooper & Kime Ltd in Middlesbrough were highly commended.

Delivering complete episodes of care through Independent prescribing

Bernadette Brown from Cadham Pharmacy in Fife, Scotland, was crowned Independent Prescriber of the Year.

The judges were very impressed with the way she uses her prescribing skills. Bernadette delivers complete episodes of care through advanced clinical assessment, accurate diagnosis, evidence-based prescribing, prevention, diagnostics and continuity of care.

Between February and April this year, her independent prescribing service delivered 874 audited consultations, preventing an estimated 837 GP and out-of-hours appointments while ensuring 37 patients were appropriately escalated because their conditions required secondary care.

The scope of the service is remarkable. Chest infections represented almost one-third of consultations, alongside otitis media, tonsillitis, urinary tract infections, sinusitis, skin infections and numerous other acute presentations that would otherwise have added pressure to already stretched GP and urgent care services.

She has also demonstrated that independent prescribing is as much about recognising serious illness as it is about treating common conditions.

Throughout the year, Bernadette has identified and rapidly escalated multiple life-threatening presentations that might otherwise have experienced dangerous delays in diagnosis.

These included newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in a patient presenting with profound hypoxia, airway compression caused by a thyroid tumour, severe acute asthma requiring emergency nebulisation while awaiting ambulance transfer, sepsis identified through subtle changes in a patient she had known for years and mastoiditis requiring intravenous antibiotics.

What also caught the judges’ attention was her creation of Chic Pharmacy, which complements her NHS services through longer consultations, comprehensive diagnostics and personalised preventative healthcare.

Patients can access clinically supervised weight management, blood testing, women's and men's health clinics, menopause support, travel health, vaccinations, ear care, lifestyle medicine, body composition analysis and healthy ageing services.

Independent prescribing is embedded throughout these services, allowing investigations, medicines optimisation, prescribing, monitoring and follow-up to be delivered within one continuous episode of care.

A standout example is Bernadette's weight management programme, which combines prescribing with regular reviews, blood testing, body composition analysis, behavioural support and ongoing coaching.

Ade Williams from Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol and Ella Holder from Verwood Pharmacy in Dorset were highly commended.

Leading half of LPCs across major commissioned services

Community Pharmacy Avon and Wiltshire (CPAW) were crowned Best Supporting Local Representative Group for the work it does for its contractors. 

Between 2024-25 and 2025-26, total pharmacy service income increased from £14.90 million to £17.84 million, generating an additional £2.94 million for community pharmacies, an increase of 19.7 per cent, equivalent to almost £9,800 per pharmacy.

National benchmarking consistently places CPAW in the leading half of local pharmaceutical committees across all major commissioned service measures, with particularly strong performance in Pharmacy First and contraception services.

The judges were impressed with CPAW's sophisticated business intelligence approach. Monthly performance reports identify variation by pharmacy, primary care network and locality, enabling targeted support through one-to-one coaching, site visits, tailored training and commissioner engagement.

Rather than simply reporting activity, CPAW uses data proactively to help contractors maximise opportunities and improve outcomes.

This targeted support has delivered growth across commissioned services, including a 44.6 per cent increase in income for Pharmacy First clinical pathways, 262 per cent for contraception initiation and 341 per cent for ongoing contraception services, while emergency contraception activity rose by 326 per cent.

Local patient group direction services increased by 51 per cent and New Medicine Service income increased by 10.1 per cent.

Community Pharmacy Thames Valley and Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire were highly commended.

Technician significantly expanded her clinical responsibilities

Sharon Lucas from Rainbow Pharmacy in Ipswich was crowned Pharmacy Technician of the Year for the second year running.

Over the past year, she has significantly expanded her clinical responsibilities, delivering a range of services including vitamin B12 injections, cardiovascular wellness testing, travel health vaccinations and immunisation programmes.

Her contribution during the spring Covid booster campaign was particularly noteworthy. She organised clinics, promoted patient uptake, managed bookings and personally administered more than 200 vaccinations in the first four days.

Lucas has also played an important role in developing the pharmacy's weight management service, supporting patient monitoring and follow-up while helping individuals achieve meaningful improvements in their health. Her additional travel health training has enabled the pharmacy to expand access to specialist vaccination services, further strengthening the range of care available to the local community.

One of the most compelling aspects of her work is patient outcomes. Her hypertension awareness campaign, particularly aimed at younger patients who may not routinely access NHS health checks, highlights a proactive approach to preventative healthcare.

On one occasion, Lucas identified a patient with significantly elevated blood pressure, arranged an urgent same-day referral and facilitated prompt treatment.

Carlos Escalante from Christchurch Pharmacy in Essex and Holly Wilson from Newdays Pharmacy in Eton were highly commended.

The awards also heard from the deputy chief pharmaceutical officer for Wales Emma Williams and National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg.