Urgently seeking a buyer: Christchurch stalwart still reluctantly working at 86

When he “retired” in 2017, Christchurch pharmacist Clyde “Aussie” Browne thought he would be able to relax and focus on breeding horses while he collected money from the new pharmacy he bought shares in.

But instead, the now 86-year-old is still working in the dispensary seven days a week.

“I usually do 9am to 2pm. Sometimes I have to do eight hours and I’m really buggered at the end of that,” Aussie says.

He no longer has time for his hobby of thoroughbred horse-breeding and racing, a passion he shares with wife Leslie Browne.

“When I get home, I’m so tired I don’t do anything. I have a nap, then I have dinner. Then I watch TV, do some reading before bed and the next day get up and go to work.”

Mostly, Aussie works in the dispensary but he also gives advice to staff and patients.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting huge workload, Aussie says he can’t really step back at the moment, even though he wants to.

“All of my staff are getting burnt out, just like the same everywhere in the country, I suppose.”

In 2017, Aussie sold the last of his shares in Life Pharmacy Barrington, the award-winning Christchurch pharmacy he started in 1998.

He was persuaded to buy shares in a new pharmacy in 2017 that opened near Christchurch Airport, Unichem Spitfire Square Pharmacy.

“I expected to have minimal contact and just collect the money,” Aussie jokes.

But after the initial manager resigned at the end of a two-year contract, Aussie stepped in to help the new manager he appointed, Andrew Chieng. That was five years ago, and he has been there ever since.

“I can’t find anybody that wants to buy me out. I’m prepared to be extremely generous, but my present staff don’t want the responsibility.”

He worked throughout the pandemic, despite being in an age group especially vulnerable to COVID.

One by one, the staff got sick, some with terrible symptoms, but he did not. He thought he had avoided it but finally caught the disease in August as cases nationwide were trending down.

“I used to think I was blessed, but I wasn’t. It got me.” He recovered well and is back in the dispensary again.

In the old days, it was actually a thrilling job with a bit of mystique about it

Despite the current situation, Mr Browne says he has no regrets as he looks back over his long career that started in 1954.

“I’ve enjoyed being a pharmacist, I’m very proud to be a pharmacist, but it’s just a shame the way things have changed. In the old days, it was actually a thrilling job with a bit of mystique about it.”

He recalls spending most of the time manufacturing everything from liquids to ointments, eye drops, toothpaste powders, suppositories and capsules. Pharmacists would also perform medical procedures, such as syringing blocked ears and fitting surgical trusses for hernias.

Over the years, compounding of medicines has dropped off, and now he estimates it is just 0.5 per cent of the job. He is sorry to see it go but understands it would no longer work within the regulations of today.

Another big change has been the metric system of measures. When Mr Browne started, three separate measures were used by pharmacists (often all at the same time): imperial measure, apothecary measure and avoirdupois.

“It was very complicated and we did it all without calculators,” he says.

Mr Browne is now full of praise for the next generation of pharmacists.

“The pharmacist of today is a very professional, well-trained graduate. And I personally find it a joy working alongside these young people because they know so much.”

Unlike the early days, pharmacists are encouraged to become vaccinators, which Mr Browne says is an excellent move for pharmacy and very much more professional than pharmacists were expected to be when he started.

Mr Browne is a vaccinator, and along with his team, has done thousands of vaccinations during the pandemic.

He is hopeful he will find someone to buy his shares and invites anyone interested to contact him.

“What I’d like to do now is really just retire and read a few novels, instead of all the medical stuff I have to read now,” he says.