Health / Pharmacy director awarded prestigious royal society fellowship
NHS Shetland’s director of pharmacy has praised the work of his team after being given a prestigious fellowship from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Anthony McDavitt was one of 13 pharmacists based in Scotland who were recently awarded the honour.
Speaking to Shetland News, he said he was “really appreciative of getting the recognition as early on in my career as I have – but very, very aware that I’ve had the chance to work with some pretty fantastic people”.
Fellowships are described as one of the highest honours the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) can give to its members. Fellows are nominated by their peers, so it is not something that people can put themselves forward for.
“It’s been nice for me to recognise that external to Shetland my colleagues are seeing the effort we’re putting in here and the impact that I’ve made on the team and the outcomes we’re achieving for people,” McDavitt said.
“It’s off the back of the effort and wisdom of others, but also a recognition that we’re still continuing to do a really good job in Shetland. It’s certainly not something you earn on your own.”
He also admitted he had a little bit of “imposter syndrome” looking at the list of existing fellows, with McDavitt saying Scotland has plenty of talent in pharmacy.
McDavitt first started working in pharmacy in 2012, joining an Orkney-based chain which runs branches in Shetland such as Freefield and Scalloway.
After spending a couple of weeks in Orkney he then moved to Shetland, before joining up with the NHS.
McDavitt was involved in community pharmacy and primary care pharmacy before taking on the director role in 2022.
When asked what his day to day job is like, McDavitt said the role leads on “how we use medicines to best effect for people in Shetland”.
He added it is also about “how the NHS in Shetland gets as much value out of those medicines as possible, and for people to make sure it’s as safe as possible”.
McDavitt said a key part of his job is about what the various pharmacy teams in Shetland look like and how they develop.
This spans across the Gilbert Bain Hospital, general practice and community pharmacies.
He said in an island context “you have to do it with a smaller group of people”.
“So my team, we have lots of different hats,” McDavitt added. “They’re very versatile, highly experienced and really cohesive.”
He also said medicine usage in Shetland reflects that of elsewhere in the country, but better access to appointments locally can result in slightly more medicine being used.
McDavitt’s last word, meanwhile, was again to thank the team working in pharmacy in Shetland.
“It’s their commitment to what we’re doing here that helps me do my job more easily and it’s the people that have spent time mentoring me,” he said.
RPS Scotland director Laura Wilson said a fellowship is a “huge professional honour”.
“I am absolutely delighted that Anthony’s fantastic work and professionalism has been recognised by his peers in this public way,” she added.
“President of RPS, Claire Anderson, visited Anthony and his team in June for a two-day visit, and witnessed the fantastic work which he is leading across Shetland.
“Anthony has embraced innovative practice, and is implementing Pharmacy 2030, RPS’s vision for the future of pharmacy across Shetland to improve patient care and experience.”
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