Team and patients praised after flood at Stamford Pharmacy

A pharmacist has praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’ after a burst pipe flooded their workplace over Christmas.

Members of the team at Stamford Pharmacy in St Mary's Hill arrived at work on the Monday before Christmas to find water 'raining' through the ceiling of the three-storey building.

A burst pipe in the flat above had pooled water above the pharmacy before the ceiling became saturated and gave way.

Ehsan Hussain, a pharmacist and a director of the business, said: "The team immediately got to work saving as many medicines as they could by moving them, so that we could still fulfil people's prescriptions.

"They also contacted Dr Tom Eames from Lakeside and he didn't hesitate to let them move stock into St Mary's Medical Centre. It is one of the few places nearby where medicines can be kept."

Ehsan, who was away from Stamford at the time, said he was hugely grateful to his pharmacists, dispensers and drivers who worked to keep the pharmacy running, despite the electricity being off, and having to replace many prescriptions already made up for collection or delivery.

"It was like Domesday," said Ehsan. "Drugs with a value of about £120,000 were destroyed and the main objective has been to reorder stock and make sure people didn't go without the medication they needed.

"The team worked all through Christmas. I couldn't ask for any more from my staff, and the patients have also been amazing - not just understanding but also coming in with chocolates and gifts to say 'thank you'.

"One patient, Colin Wood, even went to Harrison and Dunn and came back with the right tool to turn off the water supply from the pipes under the street because Anglian Water wasn't able to send someone immediately.

"I was so touched by the community spirit people have shown, I have been in tears. They went above and beyond"

Stamford Pharmacy continues to open as normal, and it will be refurbished in the new year.