Sligo’s Joel has been voted the ‘People’s Pharmacist’
Joel Duffy of Markievicz Pharmacy has been named the Pharmaton People’s Pharmacist of the Year 2018.
Joel’s accolade came about as a result of a concentrated social media campaign across Ireland. Each of the four finalists were nominated for the award by their local community for their continued excellence of service throughout the years.
It was then put to a vote on the Irish Pharmacy News Facebook page – receiving over 45,000 hits over the course of the campaign.
It was a close race but, in the end, Joel tipped the balance with 2622 likes, just seven votes ahead of his nearest rival.
“We don’t do this job to get awards, but it’s nice all the same to be recognised,” he said.
“This award means a lot to me - but it’s all the more special because it was voted for by the public.
“It means that wee bit more to me that it came from customers.”
One of Joel’s original nominations came from Anne Marie Frizzell who felt compelled to nominate him for his hard work for her daughter Erica, who was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma aged just nine years old.
Anne Marie said: “I had never really used a pharmacy before Erica was diagnosed but I found Joel fantastic.
“He explained everything, I could ring him to order things in and it was never a problem.
“He linked with my GP and they got everything in order and sorted out all of the paperwork.
“It took so much pressure off me and I never felt that nothing was too much for him.
“He would even ring up when Erica was coming to the end of certain drugs in case I needed to reorder them.
“The whole team was great, even when Erica came in she was welcomed, not patronised.
“They even got her a little present at Christmas.
“No question was treated as stupid or dismissed and the questions I didn’t know to ask were answered.
“He didn’t know Erica before, but he came on this journey with us and he walked with us,” she said.