Amrit, a clinical pharmacist in Bromley, has worked tirelessly to vaccinate care home residents in the borough:
“On 30 December last year we got the go ahead to begin vaccinating care home residents. This meant initially pulling together all the processes and protocols – at the time, the way we had to store and use the Pfizer vaccine was really complex, so we had to make sure we were doing everything correctly. Because we were using a roving model and physically going to care homes, we had use one vial at a time, continually checking the temperature, making up the vaccine and administering it.
“We spent New Year’s Eve vaccinating one of the biggest care homes in the borough – talking to patients, staff, and families where patients lacked capacity to give consent. It was a huge job but it was an honour to help vaccinate some of our most vulnerable patients.
“It was both mentally and physically exhausting working long hours to make sure we did everything correctly and no one was missed. But it was also incredibly motivating to be part of such an amazing team– at some care homes, as they saw us arrive with the cool box, we were clapped by residents and staff as they were so happy to be vaccinated.
“Some of the residents hadn’t seen their own families in months and it was a huge privilege to be there and do this work – it was and is one of the most proud moments of my career.”