Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire (CPWY) is “very sad to announce the death of our colleague and friend” who passed away “unexpectedly” on the evening of January 5, it said in a statement on its website.

Mr Hughes’ wife and family have requested that donations be made to Yorkshire Cancer Research in memory of his partnership project with the charity, CPWY added.

Mr Hughes – who worked for CPWY for five years – was involved with the project at the time of his death, in a bid to address cancer prevention, screening and early diagnosis.

Over £1,000 had already been donated in Mr Hughes’ memory at the time C+D went to press.

“Outstanding contribution”

Mr Hughes was recognised on a number of occasions for his “outstanding contribution to the pharmacy profession” and his passing is a “great loss to our organisation, health services in West Yorkshire and community pharmacy across the country”, CPWY said.

Last year, Mr Hughes picked up the Public Health Initiative of the Year trophy at the C+D Awards, for his Making Time project, which aims to “make sure people with learning disabilities get the best service they can from their community pharmacy”.

The C+D Award judges said it was “a worthwhile project” which “really showed what community pharmacy can do”.

“We will miss his cheeky sense of humour”

Announcing Mr Hughes' death, the staff at CPWY said they are “proud to have worked so closely with him as he turned his many great ideas into an even better reality”.

“Nigel was well-loved, admired and respected by the many people he got to know over his time with us, building on his previous career in health services across West Yorkshire,” CPWY wrote on its website.

“We will remember him dearly for his great positivity, smile, passion and cheeky sense of humour.”

"I'll miss his wacky ideas"

Robbie Turner, former chief executive of CPWY, described Mr Hughes as "the ideas man".

"His, initially wacky, ideas, such as the creation of the CPWY Development Academy have, through his hard work and passion, supported hundreds of pharmacy staff in West Yorkshire to develop their role in patient care," he said. 

"His commitment to community pharmacy and vision for the role it plays in supporting the health of local communities made him amazing to work with. 

"He’ll be missed not only as a close colleague, but a friend and someone you always enjoyed spending time with.”

Friends and colleagues took to Twitter to pay their condolences and more tributes have been left in the comments section on the Yorkshire Cancer Research donation page.

We are now able to share details on how to donate in memory of Nigel Hughes https://t.co/0myklG3H2j pic.twitter.com/jgiChxjkQQ

— CPWYinfo (@CPWYinfo) January 18, 2017

@CPWYinfo @RobbieMTurner I/we were incredibly saddened to learn of Nigel's passing. Such a lovely, warm and humble man. No words.

— Tina (@TinaButler9) January 20, 2017

@CPWYinfo I am absolutely heart broken... great individual with a great personality. Many condolences.

— Ravi Sharma (@RSharmaPharma) January 19, 2017

Will never forget Nigel for his commitment 2 supporting unpaid carers. Partnership between @CPWYinfo & @CarersLeeds 1 of his many legacies https://t.co/ruycM53WCA

— Julia Ellis (@JuliaKayEllis) January 19, 2017

I’m helping @yorkshirecancer help people of #Yorkshire avoid, survive & cope with #cancer -Dedicated to Nigel Hughes https://t.co/mSWNH0YM9j

— Chris Bonsell (@ChrisBpharmacy) January 22, 2017