Pharmacist celebrates 15 years as the 'fourth emergency service' in Cookham

A pharmacist has been celebrated by the Cookham community for being the ‘fourth emergency service’ in the village for 15 years.

More than 100 people attended a special anniversary event for Neelm Kaur Saini who has managed Cookham Pharmacy in Cookham Rise since January 2008.

The Old Butcher’s Wine Cellar hosted the guests on Saturday and the village generously presented Neelm with flowers, champagne and gift vouchers, as a show of their gratitude for her service.

Woodlands Park resident, Neelm said: “It was a very special day for me because I didn’t expect the amount of overwhelming love and support from so many people.

“Just to see my regular patients there was amazing. One couple in their early 80s walked two miles from their home to Cookham High Street to attend the event.

“I just do my day job. It’s nothing special and it's nothing out of the ordinary. For people to acknowledge that, was very humbling and very overwhelming.”

Neelm’s journey into pharmacy began as an assistant at Boots aged 15 and after her studies, she worked at a Bridge Road pharmacy before trying her hand at area management for a year, managing 30 shops.

She quickly realised that ‘her heart was in community pharmacy, dealing with people on a day-to-day basis, patients who needed help’.

Neelm said: “I believe my role is pretty much navigating the NHS system to make sure that my patients get what they need when they need it because the NHS is a very confusing landscape. That’s why the community is important to me.

“Being a resident pharmacist and being the constant for a community where they know someone’s name and can rely on that person, is so important.

“COVID also introduced me to an amazing group of people to whom community welfare means everything. Working with Justine Moody, Ian Davis, Mike Clarke and Miriam Blazey allowed us to operate the volunteer-led Cookham SOS pandemic prescription team, ensuring prescriptions could get to isolated patients.”

Neelm said recently the Cookham SOS team mobilised on Facebook and ‘swiftly sprang into action’ during this week’s floods to make sure those ‘inaccessible by road, get what they need’.

Justine Moody added: “Neelm has become the fourth emergency service in our village.

“Her knowledge, commitment and kindness have helped thousands of patients over the last 15 years.

“She’s way more than a pharmacist to us, working with us in times when we’re up against it, with a wonderful calmness and a ‘nothing is too much trouble’ attitude.

“The community appreciates and trusts her, and the wonderful team she has trained so well.

“We feel blessed that she’s served Cookham for so long and hope never to lose her!”