A STOURBRIDGE pharmacist who made the final of a national competition has been praised by her local MP.

Margot James MP paid a visit to Withymoor’s Quincy Rise Surgery to meet with Dr Janine Barnes, who has made the final stages of the ‘I Love My Pharmacist Award’.

The award celebrates the exceptional contribution pharmacists make to patient care on a daily basis and Ms James was full of praise for the work of Dr Barnes and her fellow pharmacists.

She said: ““It was wonderful to see the positive impact pharmacists are having in GP’s surgeries, on both the patient and the GP’s workload.

“The great work these pharmacists are doing in our surgeries reduces the number of patients requiring a trip to hospital, which is much more convenient for everyone and more cost effective.

“I was particularly pleased to meet with Dr Barnes and hear about the work she does in the community and to see first-hand the help she provides to Quincy Rise Surgery.”

Dr Barnes has worked as a neurology specialist pharmacist at Stourbridge Health and Social Care Centre for eight years and was shortlisted for the award after her ‘outstanding’ work with patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The 52-year-old said: “Having Margot visit the GP surgery was a unique opportunity to highlight the role that pharmacy has to play in supporting people with long term conditions and helping to ease the burden on GP’s workload.

“It is a great honour to have been selected in the I Love My Pharmacist Award. I am determined to continue to raise awareness and knowledge of Parkinson’s.

“There is so much about the disease that people are unaware of so educating them is vital.”