The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is proud to announce the recipients of its 2023 Excellence Awards. Alongside award sponsor Symbion, PSA presented the awards at its National conference, PSA23, in Sydney.
The following awards were presented this morning:
Elise Apolloni MPS – PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year
Dee-Anne Hull MPS – PSA Symbion Early Career Pharmacist of the Year
Warwick Plunkett FPS – PSA Symbion Lifetime Achievement Award
PSA National President Dr Fei Sim FPS congratulated the recipients on their awards.
“The PSA Excellence Awards acknowledge the pharmacists who go above and beyond, those who are involved in innovative practice, those who are striving to raise practice standards, and those who, through their professionalism, provide a model of practice which others strive to emulate,” Dr Sim said.
“We are proud to recognise outstanding contributions not only to pharmacy, but also to the pharmacists who go the extra mile to support their patients.
“PSA is proud to name Elise as Pharmacist of the Year, recognising years of passion, dedication, and leadership in pharmacy practice. Elise lives and breathes pharmacy, and she is constantly developing her practice to deliver the care and services that her community need,” Dr Sim said.
“I am proud to award the 2023 Early Career Pharmacist of the Year to Dee-Anne Hull, who has taken the opportunities to carve a career path of her own in pharmacy, and we congratulate Dee-Anne on her commitment to deliver quality and impactful aged care.
“Warwick Plunkett has given more than his lifetime to pharmacy, dedicating his career to strengthening our profession through education and programs like the Return of Unwanted Medicines project.
“As PSA National President in 1996, Warwick introduced these Excellence Awards for the first time, making it even more special for us to present him with this Lifetime Achievement Award today.
“On behalf of PSA and the pharmacy profession, congratulations to Elise, Dee-Anne, and Warwick on your achievement,” Dr Sim concluded. Symbion CEO Brett Barons also congratulated the award winners. “Symbion is extremely proud to have enjoyed a 19-year association as a sponsor of the PSA Excellence Awards,” he said.
“As the pre-eminent individual awards in our industry the PSA Excellence Awards duly acknowledge the great contribution of this year’s winners to our communities and our industry as a whole. “A well-deserved congratulations to Dee-Anne Hull PSA Symbion Early Career Pharmacist of the Year, Elise Apolloni PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year and Warwick Plunkett on the great honour of being this year’s PSA Symbion Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Well done to all!” PSA extends thanks to award sponsor, Symbion, for their ongoing support.
PSA Symbion Excellence Awards – media notes
Elise Apolloni MPS, PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year
Elise Apolloni MPS is the co-owner of Capital Chemist Wanniassa, in the Australian Capital Territory. Under her leadership, Capital Chemist Wanniassa has grown into an extended hours pharmacy offering more than 40 professional services tailored to the unique needs of her community.
Whether through social media or community open days, Elise and her team are constantly finding new ways to connect with the community. Realising the hardship that members of her community were experiencing, Elise launched the Capital Chemist Wanniassa Food Pantry and Book Library for local families in need. She has also lobbied local government to install a secure sharps disposal bin to facilitate safe sharps disposal and harm minimisation in her local community.
Elise invests in her education well above what is usually expected of a pharmacist, including as a Credentialled Diabetes Educator, a Mental Health First Aid trainer and advocate, a volunteer crisis support counsellor, and an asthma educator. On top of these qualifications, Elise is also a Heart Foundation Health Professional Ambassador, and ambassador for local charity PANDSI, supporting women experiencing post-natal depression.
Dee-Anne Hull MPS, PSA Symbion Early Career Pharmacist of the Year
Covering a maternity leave position for the South Australian Pharmacists in Aged Care Project, Dee-Anne discovered her passion for working as part of a multidisciplinary team, collaborating to support high risk residents. Channelling her experience, Dee-Anne has influenced the impact of pharmacists’ role in Aged Care.
This led to a change in career trajectory to her current, non-traditional role, as a Quality and Clinical Specialist for Southern Cross Care within a multi-disciplinary leadership team. She has engaged with a broader audience, as a panellist, workshop facilitator and presenter. Dee-Anne has quickly developed the confidence to speak to colleagues and stakeholders about the changing landscape for pharmacists in aged care and she continues to encourage and support other pharmacists considering a career in aged care.
She launched the Aged Care Pharmacist- Australia Facebook page, and has quickly built this to a community of about 260 pharmacists sharing research and discussion. She continues to advocate for that vital connection onsite aged care pharmacists will build and foster with community pharmacies that are already dispensing medications for aged care.
Dee-Anne values this vital link between prescribers, residential facilities and pharmacist services in both the current RMMR/QUM model and future on-site pharmacist models.
Warwick Plunkett FPS, PSA Symbion Lifetime Achievement Award
Warwick Plunkett FPS has made an enormous contribution to pharmacists and the pharmacy profession. Throughout his career, Warwick has served as National President of PSA, NSW Branch President of PSA, President of the Australian College of Pharmacy Practice, President of the University of Sydney Pharmacy Practice Foundation, and President of the Board of Trustees of the Pharmacy Research Trust of NSW.
Warwick’s contributions to pharmacy practice and the quality use of medicines have also been numerous, including establishing the Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) program, which has greatly reduced the potential harm of having no longer needed, and out-of-date medicines in the home.
Plunkett was also heavily involved in the development and introduction of the PSA Self Care program which greatly assists pharmacists in counselling patients on the appropriate use of their medicines.
Warwick has also played a pivotal role in the ongoing professional continuing education of pharmacists with the highlight being his leadership as the Chairman of the PSA Offshore Conference. He was responsible for introducing the annual PSA Excellence Awards and the annual UTS Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Awards.
Award winners are
