Pharmacist and chair of Sheffield’s Wicker Pharmacy Martin Bennett yesterday (January 21) announced that the pharmacy was celebrating opening “73 years ago today and every day since”.
“Well done and thanks to all the staff over those years - long may [Wicker Pharmacy] continue to serve the people of Sheffield,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Read more: New superintendent for Wicker Pharmacy as Martin Bennett retires
The pharmacy - which is open 8.30am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, 10am to 8pm on Sundays and public holidays and 1pm to 5pm on Christmas Day, has been “open every day since January 21 1952”, he added.
Responding to the post, Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire chair Ashley Cohen thanked Bennett and his “wonderful team for this fantastic service to [their] local community”.
Read more: Wicker Pharmacy’s homeless vaccine programme plugs ‘obvious gap’
“What an incredible achievement…Here’s to the next 73 years!”, he added.
“Happy Birthday to us”, the pharmacy said, describing itself as “open late every single day since 1952”.
Awards and accolades
In December 2023, the pharmacy announced that Laura Willey had replaced the legendary Martin Bennett as its superintendent following his retirement.
Bennett is a stalwart of the profession who served as Wicker Pharmacy’s managing director for 50 years and remains its chair.
In June 2023, C+D reported that Bennett had landed a place on the shortlist for lifetime achievement on the NHS Parliamentary Awards celebrating “outstanding” health and care workers.
Read more: Sheffield pharmacist’s ‘pioneering vision’ lands him spot on NHS awards shortlist
Also in December of that year, C+D reported on a homeless vaccination outreach programme run by Wicker Pharmacy, which had helped 55 individuals protect themselves from COVID-19 and influenza that year.
Under the scheme, the team delivered vaccines to previously unreached homeless people in Sheffield with no extra funding.
And in August 2023, staff at the pharmacy prevented two overdose deaths just a week after receiving training in naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Read more: Overcoming dead fish in the dispensary to open daily for 67 years
Wicker Pharmacy was the first in the country to be rated “excellent” by General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) inspectors in 2014 under the regulator’s previous ratings system.
And Bennett was also awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2010 in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for his services to pharmacy.
Meanwhile, the pharmacy has also scooped up several C+D Awards, including Pharmacy Team of the Year in 2015 and New Pharmacist of the Year for its pharmacist James Wood in 2009.
