What has a funeral director got to do with vaccinations?

Pharmacy In Practice Podcast

David Wightman was one of the youngest ever funeral directors in the UK. He has over 28 years of experience in his sector.

We were very lucky to have some of his time to discuss his insight into death and dealing with families at the end of life. We had a good chat about the topic of death and how pharmacists might make an input when people are going through bereavement.

About David

David's new business, Prokey, is a new vaccination and management solution that aims to address this unmet need through a partnership with Pharmadoctor, the UK’s leading provider of vaccination service packages to UK pharmacies.

Tapping into Pharmadoctor’s network of over 8,000 partner community pharmacies, Prokey provides funeral directors, private care sector works, lifeboat crews, first aiders and emergency service workers with a one-stop-shop vaccination service, ensuring businesses and organisations can find out which vaccines their teams require and arrange access for them. Pharmacies will be able to opt in to participate in the Pharmadoctor-Prokey Partnership and receive client referrals.

Pharmadoctor will support Prokey clients to register online for a service such as hepatitis B vaccination, then, via the Prokey website, book an appointment at their local Pharmadoctor partner pharmacy to receive their jab(s).

Prokey founder and CEO David Wightman is a serving funeral director and embalmer with nearly 30 years experience, a seasoned health and safety officer and an active lifeboat volunteer based in the beautiful seaside town of Broughty Ferry on the east coast of Scotland. Commenting on why he created Prokey, David says:

“Having struggled to manage and source the appropriate vaccinations for my team of funeral directors in my role as health and safety officer, I wanted to create a simple solution which can be used by other professional and volunteer organisations across the UK so that they can protect their teams with the minimum hassle and disruption”. He goes on to say “When you’re out there helping others, your own safety can be the last thing on your mind. I genuinely want to see everyone around me carry out their duties as safely as possible, so if you are in the business of helping others, Prokey’s in the business of helping you”.

David told us that Prokey has already teamed up with pharmacy group Davidsons Chemist so that their 44 branches throughout Scotland will provide the Prokey service. Commenting on the partnership with Prokey, Davidsons Chemists Superintendent Pharmacist Karen Gordon said:

“Our collaboration with Prokey will provide the communities our pharmacies serve with cost-effective private vaccination services in addition to the clinical services our branches already provide”. Mrs Gordon goes on to say “we hope our collaboration with Prokey also helps to highlight the wider value community pharmacies play in providing the public with access to convenient local healthcare services”.

You can find out more about Prokey on their website.