Kate

Intrapreneur Kate McCusker, CHAS, Community Pharmacy Network  

Kate McCusker, the only paediatric palliative pharmacist in Scotland, had an idea. She wanted to train and develop pharmacists across Scotland to allow them to deliver palliative services directly to children. In doing so, she would massively extend the reach that CHAS had. She would do this by providing the clinical support that families of children with life shortening conditions need, not on site, but within their own community.   

Through The Lens, Kate understood the importance of being able to effectively communicate the value of her idea to a range of different stakeholders. She had the expertise but needed help to translate her knowledge in ways that helped her persuade those that she needed to get on board believe that this was important. After developing her idea with The Lens and winning investment, Kate pitched to both Community Pharmacy Scotland and the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland; successfully securing their support for the pilot.  

Her Lens Mentor was instrumental in providing her with the support she needed to get their buy in for this transformative project. Kate continues to develop her ambitions, developing new strategic partnerships for CHAS while creating a new workforce to help them deliver their mission of reaching every family that needs them.