Rosie Furner

Primary Care Expert Advisory Group

I registered as a pharmacist in 1991, having first qualified as a pharmacy technician. I have spent all my pharmacist working life in East Sussex, starting in acute pharmacy services, with a brief interlude in health authority work, and returning to acute. My roles have spanned from clinical pharmacist to leading the clinical pharmacy team, via medicines information and formulary pharmacist posts.

In 2009, I made the move to community health services, which reminded me how much I’d missed the patient facing elements of being a pharmacist, and opened up a whole new world of pharmacy. The challenges of providing patient care away from an acute setting was a novel experience, requiring some creative solutions at times, whilst maintaining patient safety and care at the centre of practice. 

Following another organisational change, I am now leading the CHS pharmacy service within an integrated acute/community Trust at East Sussex.

I also lead the pharmacy education and development team. This includes supporting the development of a multi-sector vocational programme for pharmacists, and opportunities for integrated posts for trainee pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This has facilitated collaborative working across the interface, and opportunities to network with colleagues in other care sectors.