On 27 November 2023, Andrew Adams, aged 49 years, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Tribute
It is with great sadness we learned of the death of our friend and colleague Andy Adams, who passed away suddenly on 27 November 2023. For those of us who were lucky enough to know Andy, we can recall his great sense of fun, innovative teaching methods, engaging personality and, above all, his kindness and compassion.
Andy had a rich and varied career, initially starting as a pharmacy technician in Doncaster, before studying pharmacy at Liverpool John Moores University, where he qualified with a first-class honours degree in 1999. Following his degree, he found a role as a clinical pharmacist in Doncaster, followed by Chesterfield and then Bassetlaw hospitals. He also did locum work in community pharmacy. He later joined staff in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Manchester as a teaching Fellow to pursue a career as an educator.
He joined the University of Huddersfield in 2006 and was instrumental in developing and setting up the new MPharm course and the foundation degree in medicines management and pharmacy services alongside Dr Margaret Culshaw. Andy was an ‘ideas man’, with a passion for professionalism and doing things right. His mantra was ‘a tidy dispensary is a safe dispensary’, he hated ‘wonky’ labels on dispensing boxes and was delighted to receive the gift of a keyring with a spirit level from students.
Andy’s unique style of teaching brightened the classroom. He brought so much knowledge and experience into the teaching sessions and was never afraid to share these with the students. He taught with kindness, care and an unrivalled sense of humour, while always stressing the importance of putting the patient first.
Andy was a gifted admissions tutor, seeing the potential in people who might have been otherwise overlooked and giving them the opportunity to follow their dreams of becoming a pharmacist. The university team has received many wonderful tributes from past students who have written to share their memories and to thank Andy for his enthusiasm and passion for pharmacy, which inspired them to be the best pharmacists they could be.
Andy diversified his career into intermediate care and then primary care, while still continuing his teaching and admissions roles at Huddersfield. He also was part of the standard setting panel for the General Pharmaceutical Council registration assessment.
Alongside Dr Nicola Gray, Andy ran a Health Education England GP placement pilot scheme in the summer of 2022, involving a student-led structured medication review service. This was presented at the Manchester Education conference in September of that year. Again, this is testament to Andy’s ethos of using a variety of different types of learning activities to educate and help students to visualise the impact of their actions on patients.
Andy was a brilliant colleague and friend, and an inspiration to so many. He will be fondly remembered and sadly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife, Marilyn, also a pharmacist, and his daughter, Katy, both of whom brought him joy every single day.
Barbara Conway, Liz Horncastle, Sarah Frank, Margaret Culshaw and all the team at the University of Huddersfield