Tribute: Navin Shantilal Talati

My father, Navin Shantilal Talati, served Dagenham in Essex for 35 years, after opening Talati Chemist in the Heathway in 1977.

He arrived in the UK with £3 in his pocket, after qualifying in Ahmedabad, India. After completing a conversion course in pharmacy at the University of Sunderland, he worked at Whittington Hospital, London, before moving to Dagenham where he opened his own pharmacy, Talati Chemist.

This was the first pharmacy to open seven days per week and to offer home delivery to the elderly in the Essex area. My father would deliver medicine to housebound patients and open his pharmacy at midnight to dispense emergency medicine.

He was the most generous and kind spirited individual. I am immensely proud of the values he held dear: decency, integrity and dignity in life — and he kept them till his very last day. My father instilled in us the value of helping the community, which I was taught at a very early age: as a teenager, I did all the deliveries to patients on my bike.

In 1982, he redesigned blister pack packaging to make it simpler for nursing homes to administer medication, which reduced administration errors of drugs at nursing homes.

He went on to be named Essex pharmacist of the year in 1987 and 1991, as well as seeing the group he co-founded in 2006 — Malmin Healthcare — recognised as the best design and brand at the Private Dentistry Awards 2019.

His charity work included raising funds to help students at LM College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad, afford the fees, and to support children with educational needs in Nadid, India. He was also on the board of Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, Essex, in the 1980s.

As a devoted cricket fan, my father attended every opening first day test match at Lord’s in the summer, not missing a single one in ten years.

My father was immensely proud to have just received his certificate of 46 years continuous service to The Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

I am extremely grateful and indebted to my father for the values he has given me. He will be greatly missed and remembered by many in the community.

 

Minesh Talati 

Last updated
Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ July 2020, Vol 305, No 7939;305(7939)::DOI:10.1211/PJ.2020.20208073

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