Here at Suvera, our specialist care team of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and GPs support people living with chronic conditions in partnership with the NHS. We spoke to clinical pharmacist, Pryesh Mistry, to learn more about what brought him to Suvera, how the role differs to working in a GP practice and how it’s impacted his family life.

Q: How long have you been a pharmacist?

Pryesh: I’ve been a pharmacist since 2016. I did my pre-reg in community pharmacy in a large chain and worked as a relief pharmacist for a couple of years. Then, I went on to become a pharmacist store manager. After that, I took the leap into general practice and became a GP clinical pharmacist in a PCN. That's where I completed my independent prescriber course where I specialised in hypertension. In 2023 I made the decision to join Suvera so I've been a qualified pharmacist for about eight years.

Q: Why did you join Suvera?

Pryesh: I found the startup culture really appealing. Being part of a startup brings variety to your working days and encourages you to adapt on a daily basis. You’re constantly learning. What else stuck out for me when I applied was the fact I could run my own clinic from home. This was very attractive. There’s also other benefits such as the generous wellbeing and equipment budgets, and a competitive salary. I love the fact that the wellbeing of the team is a big part of the company culture too. It's really important.

Q: What does a typical day look like as a Suvera pharmacist?

Pryesh: I manage my working day using my own calendar. I login in the morning, and I see the reviews I’ve booked. The aspect that I like about this is that I'm able to book my own appointments and allocate days and times. Also, in my diary, it does allocate admin time in the morning and also in the afternoon clinic. That gives us time to work on our own tasks at our own pace. Ultimately this is used for booking in reviews, checking blood test results and readings. It's nice to have that time actually set aside to do those tasks. In my day-to-day routine, I have an allocated break in the morning and afternoon, and that gives me a chance to rest and get away from the screen.

As well as carrying out hypertension, asthma and diabetes reviews throughout the day
for different surgeries, other things I might see in my diary are things to break up the day. For example, one-to-ones with my manager to check in and see how I’m getting on.  You’ve got that support there. You also have team meetings which give us a chance to talk or raise topics that we want to have a chat about. It’s nice just to catch up and see each other's faces.

Q: Obviously being a remote pharmacist brings challenges. What do you find are the main issues and how have you overcome them?  

Pryesh: A challenge with remote working can obviously be a lack of social interaction in person. I think Suvera combats this really well though, because I actually feel more part of the team than I did when I was working in person at a GP practice. We have Slack which enables us to communicate effortlessly and receive instant messages throughout the day. If I need to message someone quickly, that's there. Suvera also has regular socials, both online and in person. This helps us to keep in touch and feel part of the team.

“Sometimes in a GP practice, you don't get that social aspect. That's why I feel more part of the team here.”

In a GP practice, you can be stuck in a room just the same as working from home but you're not seeing anyone, or you might not talk to anyone. I feel so much better working here and everyone in the team supports each other.

Q: What other differences do you find?

Pryesh: As a pharmacist in a PCN or GP practice, if you have any queries or are stuck in a clinical situation, you have a GP there. You can knock on their door. But again, Suvera thought about that too. We have our GP clinical leads that we can go to if we need help or are stuck and they respond in a timely manner. I never have any problems getting help and we have protocols in place with each practice if there’s an urgent clinical situation. We know where to go.

Patients do sometimes prefer to see people in person, but when we explain the benefits of speaking to a remote clinician, they understand. For example, measuring their blood pressure in their own home, or not needing to go to an appointment at the GP surgery. That also means less time travelling and less time out from work because they can just answer a phone call. We have our app which is user friendly as well.  

Q: What’s the team dynamic like?

Pryesh: I think there's a really good team dynamic in Suvera. We have a great support network that I mentioned and excellent communication between our team. You can always contribute during team meetings and your voice is always heard.  I think it's really evident that we work as a team to provide better care for our patients because of how we communicate and if there's any problems we can always address them.

In terms of working environment, we have lots of Slack channels we can get involved with whether it's clinical or social like the foodies channel or travelling channel. This helps with the social aspect of working. We also have a complex cases channel where we can share any interesting cases that we've come across and ask for advice.

I think most importantly, in terms of the working environment it's clear that we're treated equally.

“What I love most is that there's no hierarchy when it comes to ideas or feedback. Whatever your role in the company, ideas and comments are always listened to and acted on. It's evident.”

Q: What routes are there for pharmacists to progress at Suvera?

Pryesh: There’s lots of routes for progression. Clinical pharmacists have opportunities to become team leads and there’s also opportunities in terms of what conditions we're learning and can prescribe for. We have five study days per year that we're allowed to take and this is paid time off to focus on learning new conditions. That time is protected, so most recently, I’ve become competent in managing asthma. It's been really interesting to learn that. It allowed me to broaden my clinical scope as well as expanding the conditions we can offer here at Suvera.

There's variety too in terms of working with other teams and sharing experiences with the development and tech teams. It’s good because we get to see people we don't normally see in our field. We have feedback sessions with the development team and they act on feedback.

Q: How many GP practices do you work across?

Pryesh: I mainly work across two PCNs currently. The work is shared among other colleagues as well. It’s also nice because I work in PCNs in two different parts of the UK. So I'm speaking to a variety of patients with different backgrounds and experiences. There are different health inequalities in different areas. Another aspect is if another PCN is short on resource, it’s not rigid and I can help there also.

Q: How has working at Suvera impacted your work-life balance?

Pryesh: I think it's provided me with greater flexibility. Recently, my wife and I had a baby girl. She’s now nine months old and working from home has been brilliant for this. I spend less time travelling and more time with my family, which is really important. I see that as one of the biggest perks. We have an hour paid lunch break and that’s at home. So again, that’s more time with them.

“It means you don’t miss out on those special moments you might miss.”

Also, I’ve had some childcare issues in the past where I’ve had to amend my days and Suvera has been really flexible in allowing me to change my working hours from five full days to four and a half days. Those childcare issues are not there anymore.

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To learn more about what it’s like to work at Suvera, click here.

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