00:00:17:20 [Speaker 1]: my name is Amandeep doll and I'm the head of professional belonging at the Royal pharmaceutical society and also a medical admissions pharmacist at Queens medical centre. 

00:00:32:01 [Speaker 1]: A pharmacist and really simple terms is that where some, where the experts in medicines where therefore people we can talk to you about our drugs in a way that you understand, um, without the jargon, we're very much trained to be able to explain things in layman's terms and explain the drugs so that you can use it in a safe way.  

00:00:54:19 [Speaker 1]: The role I do now, inclusion and diversity is really looking at the softer side of the profession.  

00:01:00:06 [Speaker 1]: Are we including everyone? Does everyone feel like that they're being welcomed?  

00:01:03:23 [Speaker 1]: What's really interesting about the profession is that where a professional of 60% women.  

00:01:07:20 [Speaker 1]: Where a profession of 45% from a black, Asian minority ethnic background.  

00:01:13:01 [Speaker 1]: That's not represented across the board, across the patch and also disability, a big barrier to working in the profession.  

00:01:20:09 [Speaker 1]: So the job that I do now, sometimes it's not about fixing things. It's about just being an ear or providing a space where people can say, yeah, me too.  

00:01:32:21 [Speaker 1]: And so they feel validated.  

00:01:34:10 [Speaker 1]: But it's nice to be able to have that role where I can hit the problems and then advocate for people and lobby for people and do something about it and make some change.  

00:01:54:14 [Speaker 1]: We want the profession to feel welcoming to everybody.  

00:01:57:13 [Speaker 1]: If you feel like you can be yourself in a place of work, you're going to be doing a better job.  

00:02:02:05 [Speaker 1]: Because you'll be concentrating at work. You won't feel like you're being victimized or bullied.  

00:02:06:03 [Speaker 1]: So you're going to own up to errors for example, or just do a better job and want to speak to people.  

00:02:11:11 [Speaker 1]: But if you feel like you're already being bullied or discriminated against, you're not likely to say something's wrong.  

00:02:18:11 [Speaker 1]: Then this role came about because well, someone needs to lead that charge and say, these, this is what we need to do.  

00:02:25:03 [Speaker 1]: So it does ultimately improve in patient care.  

00:05:09:15 [Speaker 1]: The skills that you need are personable skills. They're talking to people, making relationships and, you know, having that bit. And I love to talk. I'm very chatty and I'm very friendly. So I get to use those skills in this job as well.  

00:05:22:21 [Speaker 1]: So it brings it all together.  

00:05:33:17 [Speaker 1]: I was the shyest person at university. I, I couldn't even talk to boys. I was so shy.  

00:05:40:08 [Speaker 1]: As I've been progressing throughout my career, I've really built on that my confidence has grown and being able to openly talk about things as well. Cause I was also really quiet about raising issues. So if something was wrong I would be really shy about approaching a doctor cause in my head there was a hierarchy.  

00:05:57:07 [Speaker 1]: And, but as I, as I got, um, more, I suppose I became a junior pharmacist and then I, I had to go and do it by myself. And the consequences of the patient's not is going to be hurt, like hurt in some way, if I don't raise my voice,  

00:06:10:11 [Speaker 1]: Then that kind of happened with practice. And so it improved.  

00:06:14:04 [Speaker 1]: The other bit was actually like being, okay, say you don't know everything because being a pharmacist, you are the expert of medicines. Absolutely. But obviously you can't retain everything. So it's okay to say, I don't know the answer to that, but I'll come back to you.  

00:06:52:20 [Speaker 1]: Mean, there's a reason why I'm the head of professional belonging because I, I caught out bad behavior and I I've done it all my whole life, but I've always been told it's the wrong thing to do.  

00:07:02:02 [Speaker 1]: When in your work you never behave the way you would at home, would you? So I was a lot more quieter and I didn't want to challenge, but then I was like, well, no, I'm an independent pharmacist, like responsible for lives because if something goes out and it's wrong, it's, you know, it's my up to me. But then I have to go home and not say a word. It doesn't make any sense to me. So I had to find my voice all over for me, it was very empowering for my personal life as well. Um, being able to be confident enough to say this is wrong. You can't prescribe this from 

00:07:34:19 a doc to a doctor, but then also at home say actually I'm responsible for lives at work. I think I can say call out by behavior in my own house.  

00:07:45:01 [Speaker 1]: You take your skills, you can't compartmentalize into like work and home. You end up being like you're one whole person.  

00:08:00:04 [Speaker 1]: Pharmacy for me worked because it is about being caring and compassionate and valuing people. And so they are my values and I get to live them every day.  

00:10:53:00 [Speaker 1]: So you can take them and you, and I always say it's using a different part of your brain. So in community pharmacy, you won't see as complex patients as you would in hospital. But what you are using is your business skills, your communication skills. And you're talking to patients on a more one-to-one level and in a hospital you're using your clinical brain more, but you might not have the business skills. You might not need them depending on your role. So you can learn everything and apply it to whichever role you like.  

00:12:14:18 [Speaker 1]: I really enjoy being able to help patients with their medicines. It makes me feel like I'm doing something really positive.  

00:12:21:02 [Speaker 1]: I can help people in different I really like the fact that I can help my family members, um, with their medicines or even just when I respond to charts. And I liked the fact that when I look at something, I know how it works, like the mechanics behind it. And then therefore say, this is why we.  

00:20:13:17 [Speaker 1]: As a professional, do we recognize that the patients that are coming through the door, they are diverse And so we need to adapt the way we speak to them or how we interact with them, or what's important to them so that we can help them get the best of their care, if.  

00:20:55:19 [Speaker 1]: There's a recognition that you don't just leave yourself at the door and switch your pharmacy hat on. You, bring your whole self into your role.  

00:27:20:22 [Speaker 1]: It's all about making sure that we're not forgetting anyone.  

00:27:24:04 [Speaker 1]: Not everybody always remembers that. So I'm always constantly having to say, yes, you know, we need to talk about race, but are we thinking about feminism and race and disability and race, recent LGBTQ person raised, you know, and it's great because I get to bring that peace. That's my activism. That's my, that's me bringing my whole self to work because I did, this is kind of a bit of a hobby turned into a job for me.  

00:29:18:17 [Speaker 1]: If you find an organization that doesn't value, you'll have the same values as you, you can leave, like, you know, it's such a flexible role that you can then say, right, this isn't for me. Thanks. And I'll see you later.  

00:29:31:03 [Speaker 1]: It's not just you needing to be liked by someone that you work for. You need to like where you work because they're lucky to have you as well.  

00:29:38:17 [Speaker 1]: There's so many places that you can work and the skills that you develop are transferable.  

00:29:43:21 [Speaker 1]: The pharmacy offers a range of flexibility. And if you decide, say, um, you don't like a specialist area, You're not stuck in a job for the rest of your life. So you can always move around. That's, what's great about the profession.  

00:29:57:05 [Speaker 1]: There's so much you can do and you don't have to decide straight away what you want to do. You can do it all at different stages of your career.  

00:30:06:01 [Speaker 1]: If you've got the confidence to go for something, just go and do it out of your comfort zone because nothing is forever. Um, and if you hate it, you can always go back and do what you were doing. And that's the beauty with pharmacy, if they say we don't need your job anymore, I can always go unload, come in a pharmacy or work in a hospital that I have a job for life.  

00:30:25:21 [Speaker 1]: My skills will always be needed in some way.  

00:34:32:23 [Speaker 1]: I don't think people really understand what our role is.  

00:34:35:18 [Speaker 1]: They see the traditional person standing behind the counter counting tablets in a white lab coat.  

00:34:40:23 [Speaker 1]: I don't think they, they know beyond that, there's a frustration amongst the professionals, I suppose, that we don't always value each other's roles. And if you're not doing something then, um, is it a good enough job? So for example, I see patients now, but before that me sitting behind a desk is out, am I really being a pharmacist,  

00:38:49:23 [Speaker 1]: There was a lady who was desperate to go home. She just needed some (privacy?) tomorrow. So I got that sorted really quickly. Her family was so grateful. They bought every single chocolate bar from the local shop and bought it in there. We don't know what, uh, what you like, so we've bought you everything.  

00:44:39:22 [Speaker 1]: As you grow, and as your experience expands, you realize that you bring, you have so many skills and that you develop into a different person as you're growing that you can do different things and still do the bit that you like.  

00:44:53:14 [Speaker 1]: I realized actually I love talking to people, so what can I do that means I can talk to people more? Um, I love teaching. So then I went off and worked in a university for a bit, so to teach pharmacy. So you find jobs that you think, Oh, I, I can do this and I can do that as well. And you can kind of create your own portfolio role that suits you.  

00:45:15:02 [Speaker 1]: I'm doing my dream jobs because I get to see the patients, but I'm also helping people, um, in the profession.  

00:49:20:23 [Speaker 1]: It's about giving people the resources to say, I can do this for myself because ultimately what you want is to be able to have something sustainable where people can look after themselves, be it as for their medicines or be it for their personal issues. And you just want to help people be able to, um, you know, empower themselves, then that will lead to a bit of a chain of empowerment because they'll feel like they can help somebody else.  

00:51:35:23 [Speaker 1]: When I first started pharmacy, I was very much about patients and I loved being in the hospital, talking to doctors, talking to nurses and really making a difference for the patient.