Primary Care Pharmacy Team, NHS Orkney Learn about our team and our island

What we do....

The hospital and primary care settings within NHS Orkney cater to a rural and isolated island community and this comes with it’s own challenges and rewards. The variety of cases, patients and pathologies is wide ranging and often presents different diseases and mechanisms of injury to urban settings. As well as having an influx of tourists throughout the year, from March to September the islands also cater to cruise ships with vessels coming in to port with up to 4000 passengers a day, who bring other challenges for the healthcare setting.

What we do: The Primary Care Pharmacy Team

There are 7 GP Practices across 16 different locations within the Orkney Islands providing general practice service to a population of approximately 22,500 people.

The Primary Care Pharmacy Team are a relatively new and exciting addition to NHS Orkney Primary Care Services. We aim to deliver Quality Pharmaceutical Care to the Communities across Orkney.

The Primary Care Pharmacy Team work together to lead on several clinical and cost-effective projects and key performance indicators laid out by the pharmacotherapy element of the GMS GP contract. We work together with our health and social care colleagues from all sectors of care ensuring seamless and holistic patient care across the primary and secondary care interface. Delivery of an honest and trustworthy service showing dignity and respect to all patients, families and colleagues is key. Our team members complete tasks aligned with their job roles and responsibilities to fulfil or further the goals of the organisation which are to optimise health, care and cost and as a small, close-knit team we work hard, to the best of our potential and to the highest standards.

Meet the Primary Care Pharmacy Team

LYNDSAY STEEL

Lead General Practice Pharmacist

Having graduated from Robert Gordon’s University in 2002 with an MPharm and completing Pre-registration year in Community Pharmacy in 2003 I have continued to learn and diversify in my career since.

The start of my pharmacy travels began during University where I worked for a summer placement in Community Pharmacy on New Zealand’s North Island. After qualifying as a Pharmacist and working in Community Pharmacy for a year, in 2004 I travelled to Australia and completed registration as a Pharmacist in the Mater Hospital, Brisbane. During my career I have worked in many areas of pharmacy including Community, Primary Care, Secondary Care, Scottish Medicines Consortium and NES and I have completed my Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy in 2006 followed by Independent Prescribing Qualifications in 2012, Cardiology Teach and Treat Training in 2014 and the Advanced Clinical Examination Skills in 2020.

In between the early years of my pharmacy career I also managed to squeeze in two ski seasons as a ski instructor in the wonderful Whistler, Canada which was simply amazing!

In 2015 I moved back to Australia for 4 years where I worked in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital as a Cardiology Specialist Pharmacist with my main interest being in the safe and effective management of anticoagulants. I remain registered as a Pharmacist in Australia and enjoy the odd working holiday back to my second home.

I have returned to Scotland to the post of Lead General Practice Pharmacist in NHS Orkney and am currently working with a small, yet fabulous team of clinical pharmacists in General Practice. My main areas of interest are Cardiology and Respiratory although with a role in General Practice Pharmacy I feel every day is a learning day and my skillset is constantly being enhanced by the great interprofessional working relationships we have with our GP’s, nurses and other allied health and social care staff on Orkney and beyond. I am extremely interested how, as a team, we can improve the way patients take their medicines, reduce side effects to medicines, improve medication related benefits and reduce medicines wastage and my other key interest is in how we can progress and support the pharmacy profession to adapt, enhance and learn in this rapidly changing career framework era.

As part of this keen interest in education I was successful in gaining a 2 year research fellowship, in 2022, with National Education for Scotland and RGU where my research focuses on Simulation Based Education which I hope will help to support pharmacists in their career frameworks to feel safe and supported in delivering optimal patient care.

All of the above I have mentioned is really relevant to the pharmacy part of my job but I would also like to mention a bit about my time on Orkney. On my arrival to Orkney in 2019 it didn’t take me long to move on to my little 4.5-acre farm that overlooks a stunning white sandy beach with my husband and Aussie Cattle dog. We now have a cat and 15 chooks added to the family.. Additionally, in my spare time I coach at the local Orkney Gymnastics Club and generally just enjoy the scenery and island life, playing golf and going for long walks with my dog.

Chris Woolham

General Practice Clinical Pharmacist

“I want to achieve the best possible outcomes for my patients, supporting them to make informed decisions about their healthcare and by listening to what is most important to them.”

I was brought up in Burray, Orkney. Leaving to attend university I studied for my master’s degree in pharmacy at Robert Gordon University and graduated in 2004. Following a pre-registration year in Dundee, I worked as a pharmacy manager throughout Scotland with most of my work managing busy inner-city pharmacies in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In 2013 I moved to Australia with my family, working for the most part in an around Melbourne in the retail sector. My time in Australia allowed me to develop and further my patient focus; I became interested in the management of chronic pain and gained expertise in wound management, this motivated me to make the move into the primary care pharmacy.

I moved back to Scotland in 2018 and home to Orkney to be close to my family and friends and shortly after secured a position within NHS Orkney as a General Practice Clinical Pharmacist. My first few months working for the NHS involved working on the wards closely alongside clinical pharmacists. This was a crucial step that allowed me to understand the patient journey. I then embarked on my career in General Practice working closely with nurses, GP’s and the wider Multi-disciplinary team to improve prescribing practices and patient care.

In June 2020 I completed my pharmacist independent prescribing qualification with the Robert Gordon University, with a specialist interest in cardio-vascular medicine which I has used to undertake cardio-vascular reviews in GP Practice and I also have a keen interest in the management of respiratory disease and chronic pain.

I continue to work closely with GP surgeries delivering pharmacotherapy services across NHS Orkney. As a key member of the primary care pharmacy team I strive to improve prescribing practices, patient care and patient safety, by promoting formulary compliance, expert pharmaceutical knowledge and training to other healthcare professionals, carrying out poly-pharmacy reviews and undertaking various quality improvement projects.

I have completed an advanced clinical examination skills course at the Robert Gordon University in addition to successfully achieving NES Credentialing as an Advanced General Practice Pharmacist which I am already putting to good use.

I am a keen musician playing Drums and violin, and enjoy sports, in particular rugby, football and boxing.

NICOLA TAIT

Primary Care Pharmacy Technician

I started my pharmacy career as a Saturday girl working in a community pharmacy. At that time, I never would have thought I'd still be working in pharmacy twenty years on. I really enjoy it and find all aspects of it interesting and I love being able to help in the care of our patients. I worked my way up in community pharmacy and was regularly training to further my learning, completing my Pharmacy Technician training and then becoming an Accuracy Checking Pharmacy Technician.

During my time in community pharmacy I took a one-year sabbatical, travelling to South East Asia and Australia. In Perth, Australia, I worked in a pharmacy that dispensed medication for over one hundred care homes which was an eye opener for me coming from a pharmacy that dispensed for one twenty bed care home in ‘peedie’ Orkney. A great learning experience, however.

I returned home and went back to work, but I felt I had progressed as far as I could in my current role. For a long time I hoped a job would come up within the Primary Care Pharmacy Team and when it did I was so excited to get an interview and then when I was offered the job I was delighted and couldn’t wait to join the team.

My role within the Primary Care team is relatively new so we are always learning and developing ways to help the GP’s and work alongside the wider multidisciplinary team here at NHS Orkney. We have great relationships with all the teams which makes it easier to work together to provide the best healthcare possible to the people of Orkney.

My day to day activities involve, phoning patients to review and discuss their medications, arranging serial prescriptions where appropriate, completing medicines reconciliation when a patient comes out of hospital, carrying out home visits to patients who may need a bit of support with medicine adherence and looking at ways to support them to take their medicines. As I said my role is quite new within this team so day to day my job changes and there are very exciting things that continue to be developed for both my role in the team and also the team activities in general.

When I'm not at work I spend all my time with my one-year old son, Haldie, and my husband. We love spending time outside walking and socialising with friends and family. On a bonny day you can’t beat Orkney’s fresh air and beautiful scenery.

Andrea Marwick

Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician

Born and brought up in Orkney, this is my first step into my Pharmacy career. After completing my degree in psychology through the University of the Highlands and Islands, and having my counselling skills certificate, my plan was to start my counselling career and complete my counselling skills diploma, however, when I saw the job advertised, I jumped at the opportunity to learn something totally new and be provided with the training and experience to become a registered pharmacy technician.

My journey so far has been very interesting and rewarding as I have been able to shadow and learn from very skilled Pharmacists and Pharmacy technicians as well as the wider multidisciplinary team members. I look forward to starting the Diploma in September and commence my studies alongside working and getting the relevant experience.

Outside of work I spend most of my time with my dog Nova walking the beaches in Orkney or hanging out with my friends, getting into a good TV show, or getting off the island and going to gigs and concerts.

When You're not working.....

We recognise that you are not going to spend all of your time at work and enjoying life is just as important as what you do in Pharmacy. There and many opportunities to explore the culture and history of the islands, the wildlife and scenery are amazing and the night life can be interesting!

Most food in restaurants is sourced on the islands and is traceable and sustainable.......some things have food meters not food miles. The island boasts two whisky distilleries, two gin distillery and two breweries, and the local pubs stock from all of them.

Also note that during the winter months there is only around 6 hours of daylight but in summer, full daylight lasts 18 hours, the other 6 are twilight, not full darkness.

Winter can be very cold, we don't often have snow but the lochs and occasionally some of the bays can freeze over.

One of the best sources for information is Orkney.com where you can find everything in one place.

The coast offers some stunning views and large sections of the islands are either nature reserves or world heritage sites, such as Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar.

Getting in touch

Your main point of contact for the Primary Care Pharmacy Team will be Lyndsay Steel

Phone: 07999029282 

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions for us.