By Dan Hallett, National Choose Pharmacy Clinical Lead

I have been a community pharmacist since I qualified in 2000. As those who work in this sector know, it can be a very rigid framework to work within. Fixed hours, little wriggle room on finishing early or popping out for an appointment for an hour or two. Patients will not accept the absence of the pharmacist (nor should they). This absence hinders their ability to not only obtain advice and their medication but also infringes on access to clinical services which now more than ever the public rely on.

Work-life balance for family wellbeing

I also married a community pharmacist, two people with ridged work patterns and little flexibility. That was fine until children came along. I wanted to be an equal contributor to the day-to-day care of our children. Not just there on weekends and after 7pm. Equally, my wife has a career too, why should she be prevented from progressing because I cannot take time to look after my own kids?

I was lucky that I was working for a small independent group at the time, so I had a good relationship with the sole decision maker in the company who saw the value and the importance of a work/life balance. Agreement was reached that I could work a reduced week, working 4 days a week with a consistent day off. My wife had a similar agreement in place with her employer (a large multiple). Having that in place and the help of recently retired in-laws to cover the gaps, allowed us to have so much more time with the kids. Our children benefitted from this time with both parents especially in their formative years, (the choice of my nursing home may be the proof, or otherwise, of that!).

Embracing flexibility

The benefit of working flexibly full-time (whole-time equivalent), whilst maintaining an equal parenting role has allowed my career and skills to develop without detrimentally affecting my home life whilst supporting my mental health. This enabled me to grasp new opportunities when they arose, as my children started to become more self-sufficient. As a result, I joined Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) to work on the digital platform that is used by community pharmacies in Wales to provide clinical services.

This would be 2.5 days a week position, so further negotiations had to take place. DHCW also supported a flexible working pattern allowing a condensed two-day working week and the community pharmacy role dropped to three days a week. Both employers realised that this combined role would not only add to my knowledge and skills but would also be beneficial to their business needs.

The flexibility of my employers has been vital to keeping me motivated and supported throughout my career stages. As a result of this support, I am a better employee, manager, colleague, pharmacist, and most important of all a better Dad.

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