A leading pharmacist at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded a prestigious national award in recognition of her lifetime’s work.
The UK’s Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKPCA) has announced that Anja St Clair Jones is this year’s recipient of their Outstanding Achievement Award.
Judged by a panel of her peers, Anja was nominated for, among other things, her innovative thinking and enthusiasm and the panel noted her contribution to clinical pharmacy at a regional, national and international level.
Anja, who will receive the award at the UKPCA national conference in November, said: “It is really an honour to be recognised by my peers with such a prestigious award.
“I started in 1988 at Brighton District Health Authority and have seen many changes since. It’s thanks to open-minded, progressively thinking chief pharmacists who encouraged and supported me that I’ve been able to introduce innovative services and give the resources and time to get involved in national and international initiatives.
“As managers we need to support innovative practices and provide opportunities for staff to develop and grow. So thank you to Brighton Health Care, the former Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and my chief pharmacists Jenny Boncey, Mike Pettit, Jatinder Harchowal, Mike Cross and all my amazing colleagues for supporting the many projects throughout my career such as, discharge prescribing before NMP, POD lockers and pharmacists delivering infusion services.
“Pharmacy is definitely a profession which is going places, the NHS can rely on and we all can be proud of.”
Announcing Anja as this year’s winner the UKPCA said: “The Adjudication Panel noted Anja’s contributions to clinical pharmacy at all levels: locally, nationally, and internationally.
“Her nominators describe Anja’s ‘innovative thinking and enthusiasm’ and this is very much seen in her establishment of pharmacy-led drug initiation and monitoring clinics for oral and parenteral immunosuppressants, and her founding and ongoing leadership of the UKCPA Gastroenterology & Hepatology Committee.
“The panel recognised Anja’s breadth of practice: ward based; as a prescriber establishing outpatient clinics; a pharmacy practice lecturer; and a Consultant Pharmacist in Gastroenterology.
“They also acknowledged that Anja’s contributions to clinical pharmacy are not limited to gastroenterology with her leadership in the Brighton-Lusaka Health Link and their successful project work through the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship Scheme.
“Through her work with NICE, the British Hepatology Pharmacy Group, the IBD UK group, the RPS and the UKCPA Gastroenterology & Hepatology Committee, Anja is an admired and respected clinical pharmacy leader and a worthy recipient of the UKCPA Outstanding Achievement Award 2021.”
Michael Cross, Chief Pharmacist at UHSussex, welcomed the award, saying: “We are all so thrilled that Anja’s remarkable contributions have been recognised at the highest level of clinical pharmacy. She is tireless in her pursuit of excellence in the care of patients and the encouragement of all those around her; as such she sets a great example to us all.”