Deirdre registered as a pharmacist having completed her Pharmacy degree with Honours at the School of Pharmacy at Queens University, Belfast. Having worked in community practice for several years, she returned to the University to undertake research to achieve a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). She has worked in large and small UK businesses over the past thirty years in various roles including senior management and has worked for a healthcare regulator with a focus on Continuing Professional Development (CPD). More recently she has worked within the Public Sector in Northern Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic (Department of Health). Other roles have brought her into contact with the Education sector as a School Governor and within the medical and dental sector as a lay representative on panels involved in quality assurance processes associated with trainee progression.

As a teacher practitioner, she worked for over a decade developing staff at all levels from work placement students through to technical grade staff and masters level graduates. As a senior member of staff and Head of Pharmacy of an SME with over 50 pharmacies, she has significant experience in governance, process management, and delivering on strategies to achieve business success including the development of managers and senior executives.

Pharmacist, Mentor, Consultant