{"id":14232,"date":"2017-12-21T14:51:53","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T14:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14232"},"modified":"2017-12-20T15:12:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T15:12:05","slug":"christmas-for-hospital-pharmacists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14232","title":{"rendered":"‘A duty to our patients’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In Part 4 of our series on working over Christmas, we speak to Dr Wasim Baqir<\/strong>, a pharmacist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wasim works as a national lead in pharmacy for NHS care homes but he also works on the wards at a hospital trust in Northumberland, which is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be doing this year over Christmas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s changed over the years is that we have a much older patient population with more complex needs. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working with limited resources given the current climate of underfunding so the job has definitely become much more stressful,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, Wasim enjoys the team work aspect of his job \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he says everyone works together effectively and efficiently to make sure each patient receives the best care possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also rewarding to know that your job makes a difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he notes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does working over Christmas bother him?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo not at all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually really comfortable with it. We provide a seven-day service and Christmas is no different than any other day when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe realise we have an important job and we have a duty toward our patients. People who work in health care understand this.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Supportive family<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sad to miss out on spending time with family and friends over the holidays Wasim says, but his family is supportive of him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd working over Christmas and other bank holidays is always shared among the team,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he adds. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have a fair system of allocating who works which holidays. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working over Christmas this year but another colleague will work next year.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Christmas, Wasim will be doing what he does normally when he works on the wards \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be checking to make sure patients\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 medicines are correct and will be working together with doctors to support their decisions among other duties.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He says the times that he has worked over Christmas have all been positive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThose of use working on Christmas all come together and try to make the best of the situation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always a really jovial atmosphere.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wasim believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important for people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially those in management \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to recognise the hard work that so many people do over Christmas and throughout the year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think people should definitely spare a thought for those of us who have given up an important part of our personal lives to care for others,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it for anything except for the fact that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the right thing to do but recognition for it is always appreciated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost people might not need our services over Christmas but you never know \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some day you might.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also hope that management too recognises the hard work we do, especially now working under increasingly stressful conditions as funding for the health service diminishes.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He praised all Unite members for their hard work this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe should all be proud of what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve accomplished.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Part 4 of our series on working over Christmas, we speak to Dr Wasim Baqir, a pharmacist.   Wasim works as a national lead in pharmacy for NHS care homes but he also works on the wards at a hospital trust in Northumberland, which is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be doing this year over Christmas.   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[648,29],"wps_subtitle":"Hospital pharmacists give patients same service every day ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14233,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232\/revisions\/14233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}