Scott Rutherford
Trainee Pharmacist, President of the LGBT+ Network
Scott Rutherford (he/they) is a trainee pharmacist and has been elected as the President of the LGBT+ Network. Scott is the first President of the Network since it launched in April 2020 as part of the PDA’s dedicated work to meet the growing and diverse membership demands and advance their work on equality. Scott is also a PDA Trainee Representative.
Scott said, “Although I’m not yet a registered pharmacist, I believe that the student and trainee voice should be represented within the Network, in order to combat prejudice and discrimination against LGBT+ people, whether they are the public, our patients, or pharmacists. From experience and my own research, the issues that impact LGBT+ people are underexplored, misunderstood, and widely not cared about. Highlighting these issues, such as the state of transgender healthcare and the mental health of LGBT+ people in general, and working towards fixing them is incredibly important to me – and now being elected as President of the PDA LGBT+ Network will help me to play my part in this.”
Lauren Keatley-Hayes
Clinical Pharmacist, Vice-President of the LGBT+ Network
Lauren Keatley-Hayes (she/they), a clinical pharmacist in the North West, was elected as Vice-President of the LGBT+ Network. Prior to working in Primary Care, Lauren gained experience in both Community and Hospital pharmacy. Lauren believes that the connections between sectors are not very robust and so she would like to change this through guidance and training with Primary Care teams.
Lauren said, “I’m looking to make real changes for the world of pharmacy in the UK: to get pharmacists recognised for their role and hopefully help to improve some guidance and practices in order to make a positive impact for the patient experience. I have an especially good knowledge of women’s health and have had many opportunities to broaden my skills. I have a particular interest in improving the care of trans and non-binary patients.”
Soh Xi Ken
Trainee Pharmacist, Honorary Secretary of the LGBT+ Network
Soh Xi Ken (he/him) is a trainee pharmacist and was elected as the LGBT+ Honorary Secretary. Advocacy work is no stranger to Ken, who has been openly queer since the age of 17, even in his home country Malaysia, where homosexuality is outlawed. Although he is relatively inexperienced in the world of pharmacy, he believes that his passion for change and improvement are key qualities to being a good Honorary Secretary. Ken is also a PDA Trainee Representative.
Ken said, “I am really pleased to be elected as the Honorary Secretary for the PDA LGBT+ Network. I hope we are able to increase much-needed representation, visibility and create a safe space for not just LGBT+ pharmacists, pharmacy students, and trainees, but ultimately patients as well.”
Joshua Wells
Hospital Pharmacist, PhD researcher and co-opted member of LGBT+ Committee
Joshua is currently a PhD candidate at Kingston University investigating the validity of patient-reported outcome measures of medication adherence in chronic disease, particularly Type 2 Diabetes and COPD. He also works as a hospital pharmacist, with his main specialities over the past 12 months being critical care, cardiology and hepatology. In addition to this, Joshua also works as a Lead Medical Advisor for a queertech firm known as Troglo, which focuses on improving LGBTQ+ sexual health.
Joshua said, “I want to better understand the lived experience of other LGBTQ+ members of the profession and work with a network to advocate for equality.”
Anjlee Shah
Community pharmacist and co-opted member of the PDA LGBT+ Committee
Anjlee is a LloydsPharmacy pharmacist and enjoys working in a public-facing role and engaging patients with the many services on offer, ensuring these are easily accessible to all. Anjlee is a co-opted member of the PDA LGBT+ Committee, and one of her main reasons for joining is that she wants pharmacies and pharmacy teams to be truly inclusive and respectful of all people. Anjlee wants pharmacies to be seen as a safe space for patients where they can be comfortable to be their true selves.
LloydsPharmacy has recently established its internal LGBTQ+ Equality, Diversity & Inclusion group for colleagues and allies. Anjlee feels that it’s fundamental to have adequate representation and connect with peers and she has hence also joined this group. Anjlee hopes to bring the PDA LGBT+ Network’s objectives and campaigns forward to LloydsPharmacy especially as the PDA is the recognised trade union.
Get Involved
- Follow the PDA LGBT+ Pharmacists’ Network on social media using the hashtag #PDAlgbt
- For more information about the PDA LGBT+ Network, click here.
- If you would like to get involved with the network and its activities, please email: lgbt@the-pda.org.
JOIN THE PDA LGBT+ NETWORK TODAY
Pharmacists, pharmacy students and pre-regs can join the PDA now.