The Aural Apothecary
Episodes
8.7 Dr Lena Frischlich - Seeing isn’t Believing - Medicines in the Age of Misinformation
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we explore the challenging landscape of disinformation in healthcare with Associate Professor Dr. Lena Frischlich from the University...
8.6 Anecdotes & Antidotes - 5 Years of Medicines and Memories
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How did three pharmacists , two of whom had never met, come together to create one of the most distinctive medicines-focused podcasts around? In this ...
8.5 There’s an App for That: Medicines in the Digital NHS with Rahul Singal
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In an era where “there’s an app for that” is increasingly the answer, we turn our attention to what digital transformation really means for medi...
Live from Oxford with Professor Ben Goldacre - Bad Pharma, Good Data, Better Care
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Apothecaries are back on the road! In this special live episode, The Aural Apothecary takes the stage at the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Sc...
The Aural Apothecary Almanac 2025
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this festive, end-of-year episode, the Apothercaries are joined by the fourth and fifth apothecaries, Clare Howard and Jonthan Underhill. We reflec...
8.4 Professor Alistair Boxall - From Prescription to Pollution: The Unseen Impact of Medicines in Our Waterways
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What really happens to medicines after we swallow them? Where do they end up… and what exactly are we flushing away? Which medicines might we be tak...
8.3 Brian MacKenna - In God we Trust : All Others Must Bring Data
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Data - it’s mentioned in the new NHS 10 year Health Plan 178 times! As healthcare continues to evolve, the ability to turn data into insight — and...
8.2 Dr Laurence Gray - The Dose Maketh the Poison
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Laurence Gray, Consultant Clinical Pharmacologist and Director of the National Poisons Information Service (NPIS...
8.1 Dr Jessica Morley. Will Artificial Intelligence save the NHS?
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Jessica Morley is a leading expert in digital health ethics, data governance, and artificial intelligence policy. Currently a Postdoctoral Research...
7.8 Dr Margaret McCartney - Conflicts of Interest and the Skinny Jabs
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we are joined by Dr Margaret McCartney a practising General Practitioner and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in General Practice at the Univer...
7.7 Diving into the Deep End - The Aural Apothecary Analyses: The Inverse Care Law.
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode we ‘Dive in at the Deep End’ and examine in-depth the Inverse Care Law. What is it, why does it matter to medicines optimi...
7.6 Professor Lauren Walker - The trials and tribulations of a Clinical Pharmacologist
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is a Clinical Pharmacologist? Who better to tell us than Professor Lauren Walker, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Honor...
7.5 - Deprescribing from Down Under - Dr Emily Reeve
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is Deprescribing? Why is it so important? And the big question... who invented it?! We present a masterclass in deprescribing from pharmacist Dr ...
The Aural Apothecary Almanac 2024. Weight loss drugs, Assisted dying and the Weight of the British National Formulary
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pull up a chair and join the Three Apothecaries around the fire as we wrap up the year with a lively chat featuring friends and colleagues Clare Howar...
7.4 The Aural Apothecary Analyses! When Guidelines Go Wrong - A Medicines Safety Special with Dr Matthew Jones and Angela Carrington
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the second in our series of ‘The Aural Apothecary Analyses’, where we will be delving a bit deeper into some of the recurring themes fr...
7.3 John Seddon - Saving the NHS through system change
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Freedom from Command and Control was the very first book choice on the Aural Apothecary and its themes of failure demand, systems thinking and value h...
7.2 - Back to the Future! Dr Berwyn Owen and The Evolution of Community Pharmacy.
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, when we return to our normal format we are joined by Community Pharmacist Dr Berwyn Owen. Berwyn is a pharmacy proprietor and prescriber in...
7.1 The Aural Apothecary Analyses! Statins and Shared Decision Making, with Brian Finney and Dr Sam Finnikin
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to The Aural Apothecary! For our first episode we bring you an exciting new format, where we’ll be diving deeper into some of the recur...
6.10 Tommy Whitelaw - Intelligent Kindness & Gentle Honesty - listening is the best medicine
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for the last episode of series six and a joyful exploration of the importance and reality of person centred care. For five years Tommy Whitel...
6.9 Ann-Marie Goacher. The Eyes: A Window to Our Health
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pain in the eye? It is a red-flag all healthcare professionals are trained to be aware of. But when spotted, who deals with it? We are joined by Speci...
6.8 Maricarmen Climént - Risky Business - How to communicate uncertainty
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do Doctors know best? How do you explain the risks and benefits of a medicine when you yourself don’t really know? We chat to Maricarmen Climént, R...
6.7 Dr Esther Clift DClinP - Joining the Dots; Frailty & Physiotherapy
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Physiotherapist and Consultant Practitioner, Esther Clift about her pioneering role in the management of frailty. A varied career, where a ...
6.6 Dr Catherine Labinjoh - Realistic Medicine & The Drug Portal to The World…
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that according to the OECD, a fifth of healthcare costs adds no value to patient care? This, along with the drive for shared decision mak...
6.5 Alison Tennant - Won’t someone think of the children?
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It takes a special sort of person to work in paediatric care. We chat to Alison Tennant, Chief Pharmacist at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS...
6.4 Professor Tony Avery OBE - The Problem with Prescribing?
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you influence the prescribing habits of an entire country? This is the task of NHS England’s National Clinical Director of Prescribing Profes...
6.3 - Sally Kneath, Let's talk about Sex - Living with HIV
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A lively chat as we are joined by sexual health pharmacist Sally Kneath. Sally busts the myths that often surround people living with HIV and details ...
6.2 Professor Bapu Jena - Freakonomics MD - Improving healthcare through natural experimentation
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by Professor Bapu Jena. Physician, economist, author of ‘Random Acts of Medicine’ and host of the superb ‘Freakonomics MD’ podca...
6.1 Rory Cellan-Jones - Life as a Mover and Shaker - living with Parkinson's disease
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For our first episode of series 6 we are delighted to be joined by former BBC reporter Rory Cellen-Jones. As well as a successful career in journalism...
The Aural Apothecary Almanac 2023 - Artificial Intelligence, the Year of Community Pharmacy and the impact of loss
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Pull up a chair and join the Three Apothecaries around the fire for our end-of-year chat with friends and colleagues Clare Howard and Jonathan Underhi...
5.10 Professor Neal Maskrey - Rebalancing Medicine
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A pivotal figure in the development of Evidence Based Practice and an inspiration to many, it was our real pleasure this week to chat to Professor Nea...
5.9 - Louise Trewern - Joining the dots around chronic pain
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do we manage Chronic Pain? This week we talk to Louise Trewern of Living Well with Pain, who has herself lived with chronic pain since childhood. ...
5.8 - Paul Woodgate - The Patient Voice and the lived reality of Polypharmacy
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our new website is now live - www.theauralapothecary.com A fantastic chat this week we talk to Paul Woodgate who as well as having Type II Diabetes an...
5.7 Louise Jenkins and Cystic Fibrosis - Not part of my life, but my whole life
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A truly joyful patient story this week when we chat to Louise Jenkins. Cystic Fibrosis is a condition that encompasses your whole life. Louise talks t...
5.6 - Dr Liz O' Riordan - The Breast Surgeon who got Breast Cancer
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our new website is now live - www.theauralapothecary.com ‘Assume I know nothing’ - we are joined today by Dr Liz O’Riordan about the impact havi...
5.5 - Trevor Silvester. Turn on, Tune in, (Don’t) Drop Out - Psychedelics & Cognitive Hypnotherapy
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our new website is now live - www.theauralapothecary.com We are joined today by former police officer and creator of cognitive hypnotherapy Trevor Sil...
5.4 - Rachel Power - Communication, Communication, Communication.
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our new website is now live - www.theauralapothecary.com We are joined in this episode by Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association - ...
Aural Apothecary Archives: Tracy Brown – What is Analgesic Stewardship
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a prelude to our next episode, where we discuss the issue of pain and opioid dependency, we are replaying a classic from the Aural Apothecary Archi...
5.3 - Professor Alf Collins: No decision about me, without me
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Godfather of Shared Decision Making (SDM) has spoken, so listen up! (apologies for his microphone quality though) Professor Alf Collins is current...
Aural Apothecary Archives : Jonathan Underhill, Shared Decision Making , NICE and POOs not DOOs
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a prelude to the next Series 5 episode with Professor Alf Collins, the Godfather of Shared Decision Making, we have dug into the Aural Apothecary A...
5.2 - Deborah Duval. Let me live! Life as a transplant recipient
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is more important? Quality of life or length of life? A question that our guest, Deborah Duval, faces on a daily basis. Deborah is Managing Edito...
5.1 - Graham Prestwich - The Patient as a Project Manager
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re back! This series we are focussing on the patient and their experiences of medicines and we start with a cracker! Graham brings his expertise ...
The Aural Apothecary Almanac 2022 – Polypharmacy, the Menopause and Growing old with Medicines
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join the Three Apothecaries and some old friends as they gather around the fire and reflect on the year gone by. Jamie, Gimmo and Steve the Chemist ar...
Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week 2022 - Phil Howard
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For this special episode the Apothecaries are joined by Professor Phil Howard ,OBE, to discuss Antimicrobial Resistance and what we can all do to tack...
4.10 – Professor Claire Thompson and Badly Behaved Molecules
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What do football and pharmaceutical science have in common?! In this, our final episode of series four, we go out on a high chatting to multi-award wi...
4.9 - Dr Ben Allen - Failure Demand in General Practice
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk to Dr Ben Allen. A GP partner and Clinical Director for Primary Care in Sheffield, Ben is passionate about empowering patients...
4.8 - Dave Murdoch and the life of a Paramedic - From Everest to Dorset
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Something different again this episode - we chat to Dave Murdoch - an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner with over 28 years of experience. Dave has worke...
4.7 - Professor Debi Bhattacharya. System Level Change in The Danger Zone.
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Professor Debi Bhattacharya - Professor of Behavioural Medicine at the University of Leicester and a primary care pharmacist. Debi led on r...
4.6 Dr Wasim Baqir – Shine On - Changing lives through improved medicines use in Care Homes.
29 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Dr Wasim Baqir - a senior pharmacist from the Pharmacy Integration Programme at NHS England. Prior to this he led the national Medicines Op...
Bonus Episode - a Summer Scorcher! Kulpna Daya & Professor Stephen Bazire – Live at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress!
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special treat for you this week as we share the recording of our live show at this year’s Clinical Pharmacy Congress. And as an added bonu...
4.5 Professor Mahendra Patel OBE - Health Inequalities and the Bradford Polo Mint
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week we welcome Pharmacy's own National Treasure Professor Mahendra Patel OBE. Mahendra is a multi-award winning pharmacist and academic with pro...
4.4 - Dr Nkiruka Umaru. Tea, cake and medicines.
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A real pleasure this week to welcome one the Pharmaceutical Journal's ‘Women to Watch in 2022’ Nkiruku Umuaru. Nikkie is currently the Pharmacy Fo...
4.3 – Professor Delyth James – Applying behavioural change - to yourself
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode we are thrilled to be joined by Delyth James. Professor James is Professor of Health Psychology in Pharmacy Practice at Cardi...
4.2 – Rebecca Hunter – Medicines behind Bars
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode we talk about Prescribing in Prison. We are joined by Rebecca Hunter who as well as being a prison pharmacist is a clinical l...
4.1 - Getting Older and how to deal with it - with bestselling author Dr Lucy Pollock
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back for Series 4. We are joined by Consultant Geriatrician and bestselling author Dr Lucy Pollock. As Lucy tells us - we all become old if we...
Live at the Cardiff Science Festival! Jamie Brewster and the patient as a battlefield.
14 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this, our first ever live show we talk to our first ever patient! Jamie Brewster is an architect with the DB3 group and shares with us, and our li...
3.10 - Dr Pete Turton - Social Media, Poison and the Eurovision Song Contest.
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is the end of Series 3 and we go out on a high! We are joined by Dr Pete Turton. Pete qualified from Liverpool with a degree in medicine and a Mast...
3.9 – Tracy Brown – What is Analgesic Stewardship?
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A fascinating episode this week where we talk to Tracy Brown – an award winning pharmacist working in Glasgow. As well as running primary care pain ...
3.8 - Stephen Webber - Clinical Negligence and the perils of a no-fault compensation system.
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We go slightly left of field in this week's episode when we talk to award winning clinical negligence lawyer Stephen Webber. Stephen has been involved...
3.7 - Lisa Green - Getting the Job Done - Mental Health, Veterinary Pharmacy and making people laugh at work
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined in this episode by Lisa Green. Lisa is a medicines safety specialist with a pharmacy career spanning 20 years and was named as one of th...
It's a Wonderful Life - The Aural Apothecary Christmas Special 2021
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ho Ho Ho and a Joyeux Noel to you all. Join us for our end-of-year Christmas Special in which we are joined by previous guests, friends and colleagues...
3.6 - Tracy Lyons - Planetary Health, The Carbon footprint of Medicines - and exploding batteries.
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by Tracy Lyons. Tracy is a medicines optimisation pharmacist and the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association’s Environment & Sustainabili...
3.5 - Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope - Antimicrobial Resistance - what do you do when you don’t know what to do...
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode it is our honour to be joined by Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope. Diane is the Lead Pharmacist for the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Healthc...
3.4 Professor James McCormack - Bohemian Polypharmacy
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we are joined from Canada by Professor James McCormack. James is a pharmacist and co-host of the Best Science Medicine Podcast and is world ...
3.3 - Professor Sally Lewis - Value Based Rock, PROMS and Goldilocks Healthcare
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ever heard the term Value Based Healthcare and wondered what it meant? Well wonder no more. This week's guest, Dr Sally Lewis explains all. Sally is t...
3.2 - Chris Martin - Innovation, Spread, Scale - and Hymns
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 3.2 - Chris Martin - Good for us, Good for you, Good for EverybodyIn this episode it is our great pleasure to be joined by Chris Martin. Chris...
3.1 - Dr Louise Newson - The Menopause Doctor. Prescription charges - fair or a tax on the sick?
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 3.1 - Dr Louise Newson - The Menopause Dr.The Aural Apothecaries are back for Series 3! In this episode it is our great pleasure to interview ...
2.10 - Dr Mark Holland - The Needy not the Noisy
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome the final guest for series 2 - Dr Mark Holland. Mark is Associate Professor at the University of Bolton and formerly a Consultant in geriat...
2.9 - Professor Dave Slawson - Information Mastery - We are not in Kansas anymore…
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome our first guest from the United States - Professor Dave Slawson. Dr Slawson currently serves as the Chair of Family medicines for Atrium He...
2.8 - Lelly Oboh - Wicked Problems, Mindlines and the Stripey Zebra.
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lelly began her career in community pharmacy and then worked as a primary care pharmacist, becoming the first UK community based consultant pharmacist...
2.7 - Fiona Peniston-Bird - Non-Medical Prescribing & Competency frameworks - what's the point?
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fiona, a nurse and founder of nmprescribing which provides the opportunity for NMPs to continue to be safe and effective NMPs through access to Contin...
2.6 - Dr Mark Porter MBE - It shouldn't happen to a vet.
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark is an NHS GP and award winning journalist. He spends half his week working as a GP partner in rural Gloucestershire, and the rest investigating a...
2.5 - Professor Rachel Elliott - The Empty Chair and Technology Solutionism
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel is a pharmacist and Professor of Health Economics at University of Manchester. Rachel has worked with Datalab, NICE and Academic Health Science...
2.4 - Jill Cruikshank - Advice, Referral, Treatment - The ART of Pharmacy in Scotland
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Jill Cruikshank - a community pharmacist in Edinburgh who works in Community Pharmacy Development in NHS Lothian. In addition Jill is a coa...
2.3 - Dr Tessa Lewis - NO-TEARS, Thinking Fast & Slow and Chronic Kidney Injury
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Dr Tessa Lewis - Tessa is a GP in Blaenavon, Wales and a Therapeutics and Medical Advisor. As well as being the author of the renowned ‘N...
2.2 - Dr Karen Sankey - Fixing the medical model - a squash and squeeze
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We chat to Dr Karen Sankey - a GP of 25 years who is currently working at St Werburghs medical practice for the homeless. Karen talks about her frustr...
2.1 - Jonathan Underhill, Shared Decision Making, NICE and POOs - not DOOs.
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back for series 2! We talk to Jonathan Underhill who is a consultant clinical adviser for NICE and has a research interest in Evidence-Informe...
10 - Samantha Quaye, the role of pharmacy technicians and our end of series quiz
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Samantha is a pharmacy technician who has worked in community and hospital pharmacy, education and regulation. We chat about Samantha’s role as an e...
9 - Angela Carrington - The World Health Organisation's Medicines Safety Challenge
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Angela leads the Northern Ireland Medicines Safety Team supporting health and social care trusts in preventing avoidable medicines related harm. We di...
8 - Ravi Sharma - Pharmacogenomics, Penicillin de-labelling and promoting the pharmacy profession in a pandemic.
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ravi is a pharmacist and graduate of the London School of Pharmacy, holds a Masters in Genomic Medicines and has been awarded fellowship by the Facult...
7 - Johnathan Laird- What is a Pharmacist and Amazon’s place in healthcare?
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan is owner of, and a successful pharmacy podcaster and publisher at, Pharmacy in Practice - www.pip.scot. Jonathan has worked in community phar...
6 - Prof Mark Taubert, end of life care and a letter to David Bowie
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark is an NHS palliative care consultant and honorary professor at Cardiff University School of Medicine. He founded TalkCPR.wales and has a national...
5 - Lindsay Harper, the treatment of obesity and resilience in healthcare.
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lindsay is the Director of Pharmacy at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group . Previously she was the lead intestinal failure specialist pharmacist on ...
SIX NATIONS SPECIAL 2021. John Devereux - British Lion, Welsh International and Integrated Healthcare Manager.
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
John is an integrated healthcare manager for the Pharmaceutical Industry as well as a former international rugby player, having hugely successful care...
4. Dr Lawrence Brad, working with pharmacists multidisciplinary education and the science of Nudge.
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Aural Apothecary welcomes Dr Lawrence Brad. A partner and GP prescribing lead at a large GP Practice in Bournemouth. He is also a Fellow of the RC...
3. Dr Amira Guirguis, supporting the second victim and how to run a drug cartel.
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Aural Apothecary welcomes Dr Amira Guiguis. Amira is a pharmacist who gained her PhD in the in-field detection of New Psychoactive Substance (NPS)...
2 - Clare Howard and Multimorbidity
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We meet our first guest, Clare Howard. Clare has worked in pharmacy since she was 16 and in the past was Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for NHS E...
1 - Meet the Apothecaries.
06 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the Aural Apothecary Podcast. A lighthearted take on the world of medicines, pharmacy and healthcare in the UK from Jamie, Gimmo and Steve ...