AIMp Pharmacy Patients throughout the UK post their thanks & appreciation to their #PharmacyHeroes on social media
Pharmacy patients from Cornwall to Newcastle have been enthusiastically volunteering to record their gratitude and respect to #pharmacyheroes. The campaign organised and run by the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) has captured the hearts and imagination of patients throughout the country.
As patients proudly display their personalised messages, the campaign has found an innovative way to record the appreciation and gratitude of patients towards their pharmacy heroes on the frontline.
During the lockdown period, pharmacies have remained one of the few places to be sanctioned by the Government to remain open. Many GP surgeries have closed their doors whilst triaging via phone. Pharmacies on the other hand have remained front line with restrictions to access but still offering ‘business as usual’, providing healthcare and pharmaceutical care to their communities without appointment.
The campaign has seen patients create posters to say thank you or even posed on their own doorstep, when receiving their medication. Such willingness and affection have been spontaneous and genuine. Some younger patients have even created artwork, while others have posted pictures of themselves at home. All these posters however have one overriding theme – to say a big thank you for their #frontlineheroes. All these pictures are permanent reminders of the appreciation our communities have given to their #pharmacyheroes.
AIMp’s CEO, Leyla Hannbeck comments, “Pharmacy teams with their characteristic professionalism and care have gone above and beyond to serve their local communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s indeed a tribute to their courage, devotion and care which makes this profession so special. They are all our heroes and should be acknowledged for their courage and devotion to duty.
“The threats of contamination, the uncertainties around PPE and its sporadic availability has all added to the fears & anxieties of staff who have naturally been fearful of contracting the virus. Its testimony to their diligence and sense of responsibility to their role,” Leyla added. “Patients in isolation have throughout this pandemic relied upon their community pharmacy teams to obtain vital medicines and deliver the medication to their front door. The feedback is pharmacy has once again responded with courage and dependency.”
Leyla Hannbeck continues, “the crisis has crystallized the role of community pharmacy in society. Pharmacy is without doubt part of the very fabric to people’s lives. Pharmacy teams have been on the front line putting their health at risk looking after their patients and the local communities in which they serve. We have had so many stories of how pharmacists have gone above and beyond during COVID-19 and the poster campaign is just one way patients have been able to show their appreciation. We know that many of the pharmacies are now creating windows displays of all the thank you posters.”
Posters featuring all the thank you messages will then be sent to MP’s, the Government and the Prime Minister to show how despite the lockdown and isolation individuals throughout the UK have thanked these #pharmacyheroes #frontlineheroes for everything they have done and to showcase how pharmacy has been there for their local communities during the pandemic.
Notes to Editor
For all media enquiries and to request an interview with Leyla Hannbeck, please contact Gillian Waddell or Susan Leigh at Fuel PR on 020 498 8211 or email gillian@fuelrefuel.com / susan@fuelrefuel.com