Michelle Kirrane, Temple Street’s Antimicrobial Pharmacist and Senior Clinical Paediatric Pharmacist has won the Pinewood Young Pharmacist of the Year Award 2015
Hospital pharmacists are vital elements of medicines management within the secondary care setting and those in their infancy years of the profession can hint at leadership excellence that inspires and develops the potential of others. The Young Hospital Pharmacist of the Year Award recognises rising talent and potential amongst those at the beginning of their careers – those individuals who are already demonstrating that they can make a difference to the pharmacy profession and the patients they serve.
This Award focuses specially on the talent we will all rely on to deliver services for the next 20 years and more: the young pharmacists, currently delivering and planning services at the sharp end – but whose skills will be vitally important over the coming years as pharmacy increasingly comes to be seen as the key part of the primary healthcare service. This Award is open to pharmacists up to age 30 who are working within any hospital pharmacy where their involvement has been greater than six months.
Michelle is based in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital as our Antimicrobial Pharmacist and Senior Clinical Paediatric Pharmacist. She has been with us for almost a year now having previously worked in a range of paediatric specialist centres – Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Sheffield Children’s Hospital and the Evelina Children’s Hospital at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, London where she completed her pre-registration training in 2008/2009.
She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2008 and was awarded a Distinction in her postgraduate Clinical Pharmacy diploma before completing her Master’s in Clinical Pharmacy last year in association with Queen’s University Belfast. Her thesis aimed to contribute directly to improved patient care and outcomes – “The effect of a pharmacist-led inhaler technique assessment, education and training intervention on asthma control in a paediatric hospital outpatient setting”. She is currently undertaking the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Antibiotic Management course.
In the words of her colleagues ‘Michelle is a dedicated, dynamic, well educated, enthusiastic, energetic person who displays positive behaviour on a daily basis. She is always cordial and willing to help the team, other hospital staff, patients and their families. She offers ideas in problem solving based on her good judgement and inspires others to do better. Since commencing in Temple Street she has adapted to our systems and processes as well as developing a few of her own and she seeks out training to enhance her skill, knowledge and ability. Temple Street Children’s University Hospital Pharmacy Department consists of a very small team within a wonderful hospital. We see ourselves as part of the bigger multidisciplinary hospital team and Michelle strives to do her best for both her colleagues in pharmacy and also for staff and patients throughout the hospital.’