It was clear in 1992/1993, after graduating from what is now Liverpool John Moores University, that Joanne’s destiny was to be in the education and training of pharmacists and pharmacy staff.
Joanne began her career in community pharmacy, and education and training was a constant feature of her work. She was a preregistration tutor and regional tutor before working for the then Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in education and training roles.
In 2002, Joanne was appointed course leader at Westminster Kingsway College for the NVQ3 and BTEC in pharmacy services for pharmacy technicians. In 2007, she was appointed head of preregistration at the RPSGB, and, in 2009, was appointed as education quality assurance manager for the RPSGB and subsequently the GPhC.
Joanne helped shape pharmacy education policy until 2020, by leading the accreditation of MPharm degrees and other courses, and was a familiar face in every school of pharmacy. She helped develop education standards for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support staff, and was instrumental in the redesign of the GPhC’s registration assessment in 2016.
She was respected by all of the GPhC’s accreditors, who looked to her for support and advice — especially the younger ones. At a recent, difficult accreditation, a pharmacist who had been registered for less than a year contributed to a discussion with ‘I remember what Joanne told me: always do what is right for the profession’. Taking into account her considerable achievements, it is a measure of her that her CV included ‘Helping a struggling preregistration trainee pass the registration examination’.
Before lockdown, her GPhC colleagues were able to toast her with a glass of her favourite red wine, Merlot.
She loved her profession, she loved education and she loved her job: and if she was still with us in these strange and difficult times, she would be practising her profession all hours of the day helping other people.
Our heartfelt condolences go to her husband Jason — also a pharmacist — her brother, sister-in-law and dearly loved nephew at this sad time.
Peter Curphey, Andy Husband, Barbara Wensworth and Damian Day