Kings Guardian Pharmacy staff member Ali Greenhalgh won the state final last year and wasn’t able to attend the national awards night, but her trophy and $2000 spending money are in the mail.

She said it was “a bit of a shock to the morning” when she received a call saying she’d taken out the national title.

Mrs Greenhalgh has been working at the pharmacy for nine years and said it was “a brilliant industry to get into: lovely people; everything’s different every day; nothing’s the same; it’s challenging, interesting and keeps you thinking”.

Sigma is a leading Australian pharmacy wholesale and distribution business, with a network of more than 1200 branded and independent stores, including Amcal, Guardian, Chemist King, Discount Drug Stores and PharmaSave.

After being nominated for the state award, Mrs Greenhalgh had to do an assessment that asked her 40 questions about her job and how she’d handle certain situations.

She said none of the questions stood out to her as being really unusual – but what was unusual about her assessment was that she did it on her phone, in the car (as a passenger, of course) travelling back from Queensland, at the 11^th hour.

“I’d been to visit my girlfriend who’d had a baby, and it had to be done that afternoon,” she said.

Mrs Greenhalgh said she had no formal qualifications before starting with Kings, and had received on-the-job training.

She said a pharmacy assistant needed a few things to succeed.

“You need good product knowledge, a very good team to back you up with it as well – which I definitely have – a good boss and good customers.”

Sigma chief operating officer Gary Dunne said the Kings team worked “incredibly hard to set the standard for delivering first-rate customer service and overall consistent health services and valued advice to people in Walcha and surrounding areas”.

“Ali’s success and the success of the Kings Guardian Pharmacy as a whole can be credited to its experienced and dedicated team members that recognise the important role their pharmacy plays in the community, commitment to brand standards, Sigma business initiatives and positive team culture,” he said.