World Pharmacist Day | Guillermo’s story
To celebrate World pharmacist day (25 September 2023) Guillermo Sierra, a clinical Pharmacist in Derbyshire shares his career journey and covers the role he plays in keeping his patients safe and healthy.
Guillermo Sierra is a Pharmacist who has been living and working in Derbyshire since 2005. He has been involved in pharmacy since he was little.
His father owned a community pharmacy, so Guillermo grew up helping his father make medications, he was in charge of making up his Granny’s medication.
Guillermo did his masters in pharmacy at Universidad de Granada in 2005 and started his career working in the Isle of Man.
He worked in community pharmacy until September 2020 where he then started working for a Primary Care Network.
What is your role as a clinical pharmacist?
‘As a clinical pharmacist my main role is to ensure that my patients receive the best medication treatment for the health conditions they have.
‘I do medication reviews which include condition reviews where I ensure that the medication that my patients have been prescribed is the optimum treatment option for their conditions.
‘I also make sure that my patients have all the medical tests needed to support treatment choice and I make sure that they have the best knowledge of their condition’.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role as a Pharmacist?
‘Being able to make a difference to the lives of my patients is by far the most rewarding thing about my role.
‘I feel that in my role as a clinical pharmacist I have the advantage of having longer appointments than GPs which gives me the opportunity not only to optimize medications treatment but also to educate patients on their conditions and how to better manage them.
‘As a lead pharmacist for a Primary Care Network, I find it very rewarding when I can help practices manage their targets and workload and being able to support my pharmacy team and ensure that I create a good working atmosphere..
What does a typical day look like as a pharmacist?
‘I start my day at about 8:00 am and make sure that I support the GP practice with task management for the first hour, this also gives me a chance to look at the clinic that I have on the day and discuss any patients with any of the clinical team within the practice.
‘I usually start seeing patients at about 9:00 am and do this till about 3 pm. After that I continue to support the GP practice with their tasks.
‘My clinics can be for medication reviews or for cardiorenal metabolic patients that need their medication reviewed or optimized.
‘When I work as a lead clinical pharmacist for the Primary Care Network, my day is not quite so structured, I can do anything from meeting with practices to ensure they are getting the best out of of my pharmacy team, meeting with my team regularly to ensure they are supported in their role, board meetings and ICB meetings’.
We would like to say a special thank you and pay tribute to all our Pharmacists and pharmacy professionals across Derby and Derbyshire for the valuable role they play in improving the health of the people of Derby and Derbyshire.
Pharmacists are experts in medicines who can help you with minor health concerns. All pharmacists train for 5 years in the use of medicines. They are also trained in managing minor illnesses and providing health and wellbeing advice.
As qualified healthcare professionals, they can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for a range of illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, tummy trouble and aches and pains.
If symptoms suggest it’s something more serious, pharmacists have the right training to make sure you get the help you need. For example they will tell you if you need to see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional.