Peter Lowe
Pharmacy 1967
Peter has been for 25 years the Secretary of the North Tyne Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) and its predecessor committees. His job involves administering and co-ordinating the LPC’s representation of community pharmacy in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland, the development of pharmacy patient services and their promotion to relevant commissioning bodies.
He explained: “LPCs are statutory organisations with which certain public bodies are required to consult on matters affecting the contract held by community pharmacies to provide NHS services.”
Since leaving the University of Sunderland, Peter has gained multi-disciplinary experience in the pharmaceutical profession for over 48 years. He managed a pharmacy and later owned one in Newcastle. For 20 years he wrote a regular column for the Pharmaceutical Journal, worked as a tutor for the Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education and as a manager for Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust (now defunct).
Asked about his proudest achievements to date, the 75-year-old said: “Survival and my appointment as Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.”
When talking about his biggest challenges he said: “The public and governmental perception of the community pharmacist’s skills, role, motivation and potential contribution to health care and the NHS has been one of the main challenges I have encountered during all these years in the profession.”
He added: “A more recent challenge is achieving consistency at croquet.”
Peter, then living in Whitley Bay, chose to study at the School of Pharmacy at the University as it was his most convenient choice after being kicked out of the equivalent School of London University.
He said: “At the time Pharmacy was largely in thrall to medicine. The course, if memory serves, was useful and well taught but social life was a continuing distraction. I was a Vice President of the Students’ Union from 1965 to 1967 and contributed to “Dais”, the news-sheet for students in the School of Pharmacy.
“My abiding memories of Sunderland are the friendships I forged, big band concerts in the Students' Union and the walks on Tunstall Hill.”
Peter’s future plans include retirement, coaching croquet and gardening. He will continue, however to volunteer for a pharmacy charity as a 'listening friend' providing telephone support for pharmacists under stress.