The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) SA/NT Branch last night announced the winners of its Annual Excellence Awards. The Awards were presented by South Australian Health Minister the Hon. Chris Picton MP as part of the annual celebration of Excellence in Pharmacy in Adelaide.
The SA/NT Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Fran Vaughan MPS, for her work in improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in particular those living in remote areas.
With a background in hospital and community pharmacy and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Medicines Reviews, Fran has been able to transition these skills to onsite clinical pharmacist practice roles in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of the Northern Territory and Queensland.
She is a strong advocate of the value of embedding a pharmacist into Aboriginal Health Services. Pharmacists working within Aboriginal Health Services can provide patients with culturally safe access to information about their medicines, provide education and training to existing staff on appropriate use of medicines, and assist in managing medications at transitions of care, such as discharge from hospital.
In her role as pharmacist adviser for ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO), she helped to facilitate the IPAC project (Integrating Pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to Improve Chronic Disease Management) which showed positive benefits of integrating pharmacists into 18 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. She is an experienced educator and has helped to prepare health professionals, including pharmacists, nurses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Practitioners (AHPs) and Workers (AHW) for remote and rural practice at the Centre for Remote Health, Flinders University.
She has also played a key role in the development of the Remote Primary Health Care Manuals (RPHCM) which guide health care delivery in remote areas. Her involvement spans over fifteen years and includes being a member of the Editorial Committee and leading the initial development of the Medicines Book for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners. The Medicines Book presents information about commonly used medicines in simple language with illustrations.
PSA SA/NT President Veronika Seda congratulated Fran on her award and lauded her many achievements as remote pharmacist.
“Fran is a pharmacist who never seeks the limelight or sing her own praises. She has worked tirelessly for decades to enhance and improve access to medicines and the quality use of those medicines, particularly for those who call remote Australia home,” Ms Seda said.
“Fran has worked across numerous roles, predominantly based in the NT with a short venture across to Thursday Island. Clinically savvy and accredited for over 20 years she has worked in hospital pharmacy including as Chief Pharmacist at the Alice Springs Hospital, in academia at Flinders University, community pharmacy, an NPS educator role, with NACCHO and more recently undertaking projects trialling novel models of practice, she is always advocating for the value a pharmacist brings to the multidisciplinary healthcare team, in particular to enhance the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“Ever humble, she is somewhat unaware of how many young pharmacists lives she has impacted throughout her career, on their journey through the red centre.”
“A clinician, an educator and a humanitarian, she typifies what it is, to be a “Deadly” pharmacist. It is very fitting and deserving that she is recognised as this year’s SA/NT Lifetime achievement award winner.”
