Sonia's busy days are spent mostly on the wards checking patient's medication and assessing patients for intravenous feeding (where nutrients are given to a patient through a vein, should they be unable to eat or digest food normally).
Sonia said: "An average day starts in the dispensary checking for discharges and new admissions prior to visiting my wards.
"I'm the pharmacist for critical care, which means that I mainly look after the intensive care and high dependency units, although I often have to incorporate another ward into my day to cover holiday and busy periods.
"So, after a visit to the dispensary, it's then onto the wards to make sure all of the patients have got the correct medicines. I take drug histories from any new patients who have been admitted. I also check if the drugs can be safely taken together, that all the doses are correct and monitor for side-effects.
"It can be challenging at times, but I love my job. There's also a lot of learning involved, even after years of working as a hospital pharmacist - drugs are changing and developing all the time and it's important that we keep up-to-date with them.
"It's a privilege to be in a position where I can directly benefit people and make a difference to them - patients often ask me more about their medicines, and I advise about stopping or changing certain medicines to make sure patients are getting the very best treatment for their condition.
"The vast majority of patients who come through our hospital doors need medication, and that's where pharmacists come in. It can be very busy, but it's a great feeling to know that your work has a positive effect on people.
"From a young age, I knew that I wanted to help people and when I got to my A-levels, someone suggested pharmacy as a career and the idea stuck!" It is a very technical job and draws on a number of different skills. "Pharmacists need to be precise, organised people and should be really good at communicating," added Sonia.
Sonia has been at the Trust for 20 years and has been a qualified pharmacist for 25. She added: "People are very friendly at the Trust and I have made some very good friends during my time here. The pharmacy team is a good one and we work really well together to get the job done."
