Marsha Alter is a practicing Community Pharmacist, Community Pharmacy Research Champion with NWL CRN and Operations Support and Service Delivery Clinical Pharmacist working at the Middlesex Pharmaceutical Group of Local Pharmacy Committees

After studying Pharmacy at Brighton Polytechnic (now University) and undertaking a pre-registration year at a community pharmacy in the heart of London, Marsha gained valuable experience at Edgware General Hospital before returning to her community pharmacy roots.

During her career, she has worked across many community pharmacy settings and seen many positive changes in Community Pharmacy patient care.

In 2018, Marsha joined the Middlesex Pharmaceutical Group (MPG) of Local Pharmacy Committees (LPCs), to deliver a pilot service “Pharmacy4Mums2Be “ (p4m2b) staying on as Operations Support and Service Delivery Clinical Pharmacist. In 2019, after facilitating further community pharmacy-based studies, Marsha was offered a joint Community Pharmacy Research Champion role with the NIHR NWL CRN. Invitation to the NWL ARC Trail Blazer Group and support from Imperial’s Self Care Academic Research Unit enabled the research champions to design, develop and deliver their own community pharmacy related studies. In 2021 Marsha was delighted to be offered an association with Imperial College Dept of Primary Care and Public Health as Honorary Research Fellow.

With pharmacy colleague Shivali Lakhani and research colleague Dr Mina Mallaah, Marsha is embarking on the NIHR NWL ARC Improvement Leader Fellowship programme under the mentorship of Prof Mitch Blair (Professors of Paediatrics and Child Public Health at Imperial College London.

The aim is to investigate the barriers and drivers of launching a Self Care Pharmacy First Scheme for Children in NWL beginning with examination of Northwick Park Hospital Trust data for paediatric A&E attendances to determine age, conditions and postcodes most commonly presenting. Through targeted detailed surveys and interviews, the trio will research the public acceptability of this scheme together with the needs of Community Pharmacy teams before making recommendations for a pilot service.