Pharmacists, GSK CEO, pharmacy professor among recipients of 2020 Queen’s Birthday honours

Pharmacists working in the community and hospital settings, chief executive officer of a pharmaceutical giant and a pharmacy academic are among the recipients of this year's Queen’s Birthday honours.

Health and social care workers make up more than 200 of the 1,495 Britons on the 2020 honours list which was due to be published in June but was postponed to enable nominations of people who have been instrumental in the nation's Covid-19 effort.

The Cabinet Office said this year's list included 414 “exceptional contributions of unsung heroes” who went above and beyond in the early months of the response to the pandemic.

Emma Walmsley - DBE

Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for “services to the pharmaceutical industry and business".

Walmsley said she was “humbled to receive the honour” which is a “real testament to the many outstanding people we have at GSK and the work we do for patients and people in the UK and around the world”.

She became CEO of GSK in 2017, after leading GSK Consumer Healthcare, a joint venture between GSK and Novartis, from its creation in March 2015.

Walmsley joined GSK in 2010, with responsibility for Consumer Healthcare, Europe, after 17 years with L’Oreal where she held a variety of marketing and general management roles in Paris, London and New York.

Dr Mark Timoney - OBE

Dr Mark Timoney has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for “services to pharmacy.” Dr Timoney held the post of chief pharmaceutical officer for Northern Ireland from 2013 to 2019.

He is currently a director of Timoney Pharmacy in Lisburn, NI – a community pharmacy established by his parents in 1954.

Commenting on his award, Dr Timoney said: “It’s a great honour to be recognised in this way. This achievement is attributable in no small part to the support of my wife and children together with colleagues and teams within and outside Northern Ireland.

“I am pleased the award has recognised my contribution to the pharmacy profession.

I hope that my ongoing work in pharmacy will contribute to the transformation and rebuilding of the wider health and social care services in order to improve the health and well-being of patients and local communities.”

Jat Harchowal - MBE

Jatinder Singh Harchowal has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his work during the Covid-19 pandemic and services to the pharmaceutical profession.

He is chief pharmacist and head of quality improvement at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and director of pharmacy at the NHS Nightingale Hospital.

Harchowal spent eight weeks away from home ensuring the Nightingale was set up to safely deliver care to seriously ill Covid-19 patients, working with a multidisciplinary team in often difficult and stressful situations to provide the best possible care for patients.

Commenting on his MBE, Harchowal said: “I am incredibly honoured, humbled and proud to be receiving this award. I’m proud of what the whole team at the Nightingale achieved together and how all of London came together during the pandemic.

“I’m also particularly proud that this award recognises the important work of pharmacists and the pharmacy teams in the NHS. I couldn’t have done any of it without the support of my colleagues at the Nightingale, The Royal Marsden and my family.”

Professor Jayne Lawrence - MBE

Jayne Lawrence was made a MBE for “services to pharmaceutical research.” She is professor and head of the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry at the University of Manchester.

Until early 2017 she was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s chief scientist and professor in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London.

Lawrence told Pharmacy Business: “I'm delighted to have received the award and I feel truly honoured.

“In truth though it also feels a little bit strange to be in company with the likes of Adele, Steven Gerrard and Rob Brydon - because I'm not exactly a household name, and most of the research that I've done in my life has been carried out working with other scientists of one sort or another, in particular scientists working at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's ISIS facility, where I've spent many a sleepless night doing neutron scattering experiments on drug and gene delivery systems and studying their interactions with model cell membranes.”

Lawrence was educated as an undergraduate in John Moores University, before joining the Pharmaceutical register in 1982 and completing a PhD in Pharmacy in Manchester in 1984.

She then took up a lecturing job at Chelsea College in London.

“And all through my time as an academic in London and now, as head of the Division of Pharmacy & Optometry in Manchester, and over my years spent as chief scientist at the RPS, I've stayed true to my Pharmacy background and have tried to serve the profession, but at the same satisfying my passion for scientific research,” she said.

“I feel privileged to have been able to work and contribute to Pharmacy and to pharmaceutical science, and the Queen's award is very definitely the marzipan, the icing and the cherry on the cake!”

Asgher Mohammed – MBE

Asgher Mohammed was awarded an MBE for his “services to pharmacy and charity”.

Mohammed qualified as a pharmacist in 1982 and worked in various capacities at Boots before deciding to become an independent community pharmacist in 1986. Currently he runs Abbey Chemist in Scotland as managing director. He is an independent prescriber and has special interests in pharmaceutical care and hypertension. During his spare time, he enjoys volunteering for charities.

Mohammed was recently appointed a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Speaking to Pharmacy Business, Mohammed said: "Serving the community through my pharmacy and charity work has been both a privilege and my passion. This has been driven by my Islamic faith. I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award and would sincerely like to thank everyone who have made it possible."

Faisal Tuddy - BEM

Faisal Tuddy, Asda house superintendent pharmacist, ethics and compliance, was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his work in the local community, particularly during Covid-19.

At the height of the pandemic Tuddy played a key role in creating a contingency plan so that Asda could continue to serve its customers and ensured that the retailer could keep each of its 254 pharmacies open as coronavirus spread through the country.

He created a prescription delivery service from scratch, in a little under two weeks, which included establishing the process, recruiting temporary drivers, briefing all our pharmacy colleagues and communicating to customers about the service.

He said, “I feel honoured and humbled to be accepting the British Empire Medal, it’s a testament to the incredible work of all our pharmacy teams in stores and the support of my head office colleagues. They have all really pulled together to go above and beyond to look after our patients when they needed us the most. It’s an absolute pleasure to work with so many dedicated people.”

Pharmacist Eamon Mullaney who serves as professional manager, Pharmacy Services at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust was awarded MBE for services to the pharmaceutical sector particularly during Covid-19.

The full honours list will be published at www.gov.uk/honours/honours-lists