# Andy Charlwood — Complete Career, Skills & Portfolio Knowledge Base

**Contact:** andy@charlwood.xyz | https://andy.charlwood.xyz/ | LinkedIn  
**Location:** Norfolk, England  
**Age:** 32 (as of 2025)  
**Registration:** GPhC Registered Pharmacist (August 2016 – Present)

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## Personal Summary

GPhC-registered pharmacist and self-taught data analyst/developer who combines deep clinical pharmacy expertise with advanced technical capabilities in Python, SQL, and Power BI. Currently Deputy Head of Population Health and Data Analytics at NHS Norfolk & Waveney ICB, managing analytical strategy for a £220M prescribing budget serving 1.2 million people. Has delivered £14.6M+ in documented efficiency savings through data-driven interventions.

Core value proposition: "Pharmacist who builds health tech solutions that transform care delivery at scale" — bridging two traditionally separate worlds by bringing clinical understanding of medicines and practice together with advanced analytics and automation.

Self-describes with characteristic honesty as a "bootleg data scientist" or "Temu data scientist" — no formal data qualifications, entirely self-taught during night shifts at Tesco pharmacy between 2017–2022, progressing from Excel macros to sophisticated Python applications, machine learning, and population-scale health analytics. Comfortable with "YouTube University graduate" as a title.

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## Career Timeline

### McDonald's Corporation — Floor Manager, Crew Trainer & Crew Member
**September 2009 – June 2014 | Ashford, Kent**

Progressed from Crew Member to Floor Manager while completing A-levels and undergraduate pharmacy degree. Developed leadership, customer service, and operational management skills in high-pressure environment. Trained and evaluated staff performance, oversaw cash and inventory management, health and safety compliance, and operational efficiency during peak trading periods.

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### University of East Anglia — MPharm (2:1 Honours)
**2011 – 2015**

- Failed pharmacy exams in years 1, 2, and 3 before completing the degree — a fact Andy is open about and uses as a powerful narrative about resilience
- Independent research project on drug delivery and cocrystals: 75.1% (Distinction level)
- 4th year OSCE (clinical skills assessment): 80%
- President, UEA Pharmacy Society (May 2014 – April 2015)
- Secretary & Vice-President, UEA Ultimate Frisbee (May 2014 – April 2015)
- Publicity Officer, UEA Alzheimer's Society (May 2013 – April 2014)

**A-Levels (Highworth Grammar School, 2009–2011):** Mathematics (A*), Chemistry (B), Politics (C)

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### Paydens Pharmacy — Pre-Registration Pharmacist
**July 2015 – July 2016 | Tunbridge Wells & Ashford, Kent**

Completed professional training in challenging, service-rich environment, taking on advanced responsibilities beyond typical pre-registration scope.

- Led initiation of Patient Group Directions (PGDs) including NRT, emergency hormonal contraception, and chlamydia screening/treatment services
- Conducted comprehensive NMS audit, increasing completion rates from under 10% to 50–60% of target through process improvement
- Provided clinical screening services for palliative care hospice — complex patient care and end-of-life medication management experience
- Developed understanding of wholesale procedures, regulatory compliance, and pharmacy business operations

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### Tesco PLC — Duty Pharmacy Manager → Pharmacy Manager
**August 2016 – May 2022 | Great Yarmouth, Norfolk**

**Duty Pharmacy Manager (August 2016 – October 2017):** Progressed from newly qualified pharmacist to Acting Pharmacy Manager within two months. Co-led regional initiatives for NMS and asthma referrals, developing resources supporting service provision across the region.

**Pharmacy Manager (November 2017 – May 2022):** Managed all pharmacy operations with full autonomy. Served as Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) representative supporting Norfolk's community pharmacy sector.

Key achievements:

- **National asthma screening solution:** Designed quality payments solution for asthma patient screening implemented nationally across Tesco's entire pharmacy estate — saving 30–60 minutes daily per pharmacy and generating approximately £1M potential revenue
- **National training:** Created induction training plan and eLearning modules for all new Tesco pharmacy staff nationally, with enhanced focus on culture and leadership development for non-pharmacist team members
- **Regional NMS leadership:** Led KPI delivery initiatives including New Medication Service (NMS), achieving target performance and developing implementation resources adopted across 39 pharmacies in the region
- **System integration:** Established collaborative working relationships with local PCN and ICS partners, creating agreed protocols for managing medicine supply issues affecting patient care
- **Staff development:** Supervised two staff members through NVQ3 qualifications to pharmacy technician registration
- **Operational management:** Maintained 100-hour contractual requirements through effective locum management. Managed full employee lifecycle including rotas, recruitment, performance management, disciplinaries, and grievances

**This is where coding was learned.** During night shifts and quiet periods at Tesco (2017–2022), Andy taught himself to code:
1. Started with Excel macros to automate repetitive pharmacy tasks
2. Progressed to VBA for more complex automation
3. Moved to Python through online tutorials and real-world pharmacy problems
4. Built projects including financial modelling (Black-Scholes options pricing, gamma mapping from options open interest)
5. Learned SQL once he gained access to NHS databases
6. Daily practice of 30–60 minutes most evenings for approximately 5 years
7. Resources: Stack Overflow, Python documentation, YouTube — entirely self-directed

**NHS Leadership Academy — Mary Seacole Programme (78%) | April – October 2018:** Formal NHS leadership qualification providing theoretical grounding in healthcare leadership approaches, change management, and system-level thinking.

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### NHS Norfolk & Waveney ICB — Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist (High Cost Drugs)
**May 2022 – July 2024 | Norwich, Norfolk**

Hired for clinical skills, not data — but quickly demonstrated what data analysis could do for the team. This role was the bridge between community pharmacy and data leadership.

Key achievements:

- **Blueteq automation:** Developed software automating Blueteq prior approval form creation, achieving 70% reduction in required forms whilst saving 30 hours monthly (200 hours immediate savings, 7–8 hours ongoing weekly efficiency gains)
- **Blueteq data integration:** Integrated Blueteq data with secondary care databases, enabling accurate high-cost drug spend tracking and pathway compliance monitoring for the first time across the system
- **Clinical pathway development:** Created evidence-based clinical pathways for multiple therapeutic areas:
  - Rheumatology
  - Ophthalmology (wet AMD, DMO, RVO)
  - Gastroenterology (IBD)
  - Migraine management (co-written with neurology consultant, implemented system-wide across all GPs and trusts)
- **Sankey chart patient flow analysis:** Developed Python-based Sankey chart analysis tool visualising patient journeys through high-cost drug pathways. Enabled trusts to audit compliance, identify improvement opportunities, and understand flow through complex treatment pathways visually
- **ADHD medication shortage:** Provided strategic guidance during critical period, including primary care prescribing recommendations during ADHD medication shortage in partnership with Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT)

**Technical environment:** Python, Blueteq platform, NHS data systems, secondary care activity databases, pathway development and visualisation tools

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### NHS Norfolk & Waveney ICB — Deputy Head of Population Health & Data Analytics
**July 2024 – Present | Norwich, Norfolk**

**Interim Head of Population Health & Data Analytics (May 2025 – September 2025):** Served as acting head with direct accountability to Chief Pharmacist and presentation responsibilities to Chief Medical Director, following previous head's departure. Delivered exceptional results during organisational transition.

Leading data analytics strategy for medicines optimisation across Norfolk & Waveney's population of over 1.2 million people.

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## Key Projects & Achievements (Current Role)

### Cost Optimisation Algorithm (Biggest Achievement)
- **Problem:** Finding cost-effective medicine switches took months of manual work
- **Solution:** Built Python algorithm that ingests 6 months of prescribing data, identifies products with same VMP (Virtual Medicinal Product), finds cheapest alternatives, extrapolates annual savings, and prioritises items for system-wide switches
- **Technical approach:** Uses dm+d (Dictionary of Medicines and Devices) schema to group therapeutically equivalent products by ingredient, route, and form, then calculates cost-per-unit differentials
- **Results:**
  - Process reduced from months to 3 days for initial list generation
  - Identified £2.8M annual savings potential across 14,000 patients (~£200 average per patient)
  - Achieved 50% reduction in targeted prescribing within two months of deployment
  - Dashboard focuses on low-risk, cost-effective switches (essentially identical generic medicines under different brands) — high impact, low effort

### QIPP Efficiency Target Delivery
- £14.6M+ efficiency opportunities identified by October 2025, exceeding QIPP target
- Budget of £220M prescribing managed — currently under budget
- Additional savings anticipated from dapagliflozin patent expiration
- Historic invoice backlog fully cleared — reduced from over 500 invoices dating from 2019

### Opioid Monitoring Dashboard
- System-wide dashboard converting all opioid prescriptions to oral morphine equivalents (OME)
- Deployed across Norfolk & Waveney for patient safety
- Identifies high-risk patients and potential medication diversion
- Patient-level analysis showing prescribers, dispensing pharmacies, and patterns
- Connected to published evaluation research: system-wide opioid deprescribing intervention demonstrated 18.3% decrease in high-dose opioids (vs 6.9% national average) and 9.2% decrease in total opioid prescribing (vs 4% national average)
- Working with Professor Debi Bhattacharya and data scientist Adam on difference-in-differences evaluation methodology for academic publication

### Prescribing Incentive Scheme (Novel Design)
- Transformed approach from single-target thresholds to flexible points-based system
- Practices can target multiple indicators simultaneously
- Novel mechanism allowing "overflow" points for priority switches
- Patient-level tracking: one patient de-prescribed = one point
- Indicators include: PPIs in children, pericyazine deprescribing, antipsychotics in dementia, anticholinergic burden reduction, iron supplementation, opioid deprescribing
- Automated incentive scheme analysis: reduced months of manual work to 3 days
- Created patient-level searches to centrally track GP data for incentive measures

### Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) Implementation
- Comprehensive analytical support for tirzepatide implementation following NICE TA1026
- Monte Carlo modelling for financial projections with Dirichlet distributions for dose uncertainty
- Predictive analytics for demand forecasting
- Detailed cohort analysis
- GP survey data analysis (~70 responses) informing capacity planning
- Local Enhanced Service (LES) model development for primary care delivery
- Risk register management and executive-level briefings
- Cross-ICB collaboration with SNEE ICB to validate methodologies

### DOAC Financial Modelling & Pharma Negotiation
- Created interactive DOAC switching scenario modeller for executive stakeholders
- Modelled complex rebate scheme with Daiichi Sankyo for edoxaban
- Led pharmaceutical company negotiations, using market share leverage to secure rebate extension
- Successfully negotiated rebate extension for merged ICB system (Norfolk & Suffolk)
- Built financial dashboard showing switching scenarios, rebate thresholds, and break-even analysis

### Polypharmacy Prescribing Dashboard
- Indicators: average active ingredients, distinct medicines, oral morphine equivalent (90 days), anticholinergic burden score, Johns Hopkins emergency admission risk (12m), inpatient admission risk (6m), mortality risk score
- Person Need Cluster and Healthcare Resource groupings
- Population-level and practice-level views

### Data Infrastructure Transformation
- Led team transition from practice-level EPACT data to patient-level SQL-based analytics
- Created self-serve data model empowering medicines optimisation colleagues
- Developed comprehensive medicines data infrastructure integrating all dm+d products with:
  - Standardised strength calculations
  - Morphine equivalent conversions
  - Anticholinergic Burden scoring
  - Single source of truth for all medicines analytics across the ICS
- Direct access to ICB databases (Snowflake) — unusual for a pharmacy role
- Integration of multiple data sources: ePACT2, OpenPrescribing, Eclipse, Fingertips, ICB data warehouse, Blueteq, secondary care activity data

### AI/LLM Work
- Fine-tuned an 11B parameter LLM to decode free-text prescription directions into daily quantities
- Converts directions like "take two tablets three times a day" into structured data
- Enables identification of overprescribing patterns and potential controlled drug misuse
- Auto-updating analysis identifying patients with high oral morphine equivalent across multiple prescribers/pharmacies
- Explored Claude agents for clinical pharmacy review at scale
- Researched pharmacogenomics applications — using medication persistence patterns as proxies for pharmacogenomic variants (CYP2D6, CYP2C19 etc.)
- Investigated prescribing cascades in PGx-actionable medications

### Community Pharmacy Innovation
- Researched PGD (Patient Group Directive) framework for community pharmacy-led DOAC switching
- Designed payment model: £20 per pharmacist consultation, £5 GP admin fee
- Legal analysis concluded pharmacist independent prescriber model is legally safer than PGD route
- Exploring community pharmacy services for compliance aids, Norfolk Medicine Support Service

### ICB Merger Preparations
- Preparing for Norfolk & Waveney merger with Suffolk (SNEE ICB) from April 2026
- Leading formulary alignment work between systems
- Coordinating Blueteq alignment across ICB borders
- Comparing incentive schemes and metrics between Norfolk and Suffolk
- High-cost drug pathway harmonisation
- Using AI tools (Copilot) to compare policy differences between systems

### Other Notable Work
- Antimicrobial stewardship work and audits at system level
- Core20PLUS5 targeted interventions (health inequalities)
- Patient adherence indicators development
- Clinical pathway indicators implementation
- TAG (Technology Appraisal Guidance) document generation automation using VBA
- Supporting NICE Technology Appraisal implementation across the system
- Horizon scanning for new medicines and upcoming patent expiries

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## Technical Skills

### Programming & Data
- **Python** (primary language, ~6–7 years): pandas, numpy, matplotlib, data analysis, algorithm development, automation, machine learning, API integration, financial modelling
- **SQL** (daily use, possibly more than Python now): Snowflake, NHS databases, complex joins, CTEs, window functions
- **Power BI**: Dashboard development, DAX measures, interactive reporting
- **Excel/VBA** (advanced): Pivot tables, macros, automation, interactive workbooks
- **JavaScript/TypeScript** (hobby level): Web development, personal website
- **DuckDB**: Local data warehousing experiments

### Machine Learning & AI
- Fine-tuned LLMs (11B parameter model for prescription direction parsing)
- Monte Carlo simulation modelling
- Predictive analytics and demand forecasting
- Black-Scholes options pricing models
- Gamma mapping from options open interest
- Experience with cloud GPU (A100) for model deployment
- 3D medical imaging AI model deployment (experimental)

### Healthcare Data Systems
- dm+d (Dictionary of Medicines and Devices) — deep schema knowledge (VTM, VMP, VMPP, AMP, AMPP hierarchies)
- Blueteq (prior approval system)
- ePACT2 (NHS BSA prescribing data)
- OpenPrescribing
- Eclipse
- Fingertips (population health indicators)
- NHS BSA prescribing datasets
- Secondary care activity data
- Johns Hopkins ACG system (risk stratification)
- Patient-level prescribing and dispensing data

### Tools & Platforms
- Jupyter Notebooks / DataSpell
- Git
- Home Assistant (extensive home automation)
- Unraid server administration
- ESPHome / ESP32 firmware
- 3D printing (Bambu Lab printers, PETG, ASA materials)
- Claude Code (command line agentic coding)

### Certifications
- GPhC Registered Pharmacist (August 2016 – Present)
- Snowflake: Hands-On Essentials — Data Warehousing Workshop
- NHS Leadership Academy: Mary Seacole Programme (78%, 2018)
- No formal data science qualifications — entirely self-taught

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## Daily Work Breakdown

Typical week splits roughly:
- **~40% meetings and strategy:** Stakeholder engagement, national/regional calls, working with colleagues on projects, supporting decisions with data, understanding the current climate and opportunities for collaboration across medicines optimisation teams
- **~40% coding and analysis:** Writing Python scripts, SQL queries, building Power BI dashboards, curating insights for stakeholders in a way they will listen to
- **~20% problem-solving:** Figuring out how to solve problems, navigating challenges, political landscape

Key insight: "curating insights in a way where stakeholders will listen" — the communication/political piece is as important as the technical work.

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## Speaking & Public Engagement

### UEA "Careers in Data" Panel (November 2025)
- Guest panelist at University of East Anglia
- Spoke about journey from self-taught coding to NHS data leadership
- Audience: current UEA students interested in data careers
- Unique positioning: only panelist combining clinical healthcare with self-taught data skills
- Key messages delivered: you don't need a CS degree, build real things that solve real problems, domain expertise + coding > pure technical skills

### UEA "Inspirational Roles in Pharmacy" Presentation (September 2025)
- Invited back to alma mater for 10–15 minute presentation on non-traditional pharmacy career
- Presented to first-year pharmacy students
- Focused on demonstrating unconventional career paths within pharmacy

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## Career Goals & Transition Strategy

### Current Direction
Actively exploring transition from NHS to private sector, targeting pharmaceutical, health-tech, and consulting companies. Recognises that private sector organisations are more likely to use external recruiters than NHS roles.

### Target Roles
- Senior Manager / Associate Director level (considers Director/Head titles premature at 32 without private sector experience)
- Medical Affairs
- Market Access
- Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR)
- Healthcare IT Consulting / Principal Consultant
- Real-World Evidence analysis
- Digital Health Product Management
- Population Health Strategy

### Positioning
- "Pharmacist who builds health tech solutions" — NOT "pharmacist trying to transition into tech"
- Core differentiator: clinical domain expertise + technical capability + strategic leadership at scale
- NHS language translation needed: "Deputy Head of Population Health and Data Analytics" maps to "Senior Manager, HEOR" or "Principal Consultant, Population Health Strategy" in private sector terms
- UK professional communication values evidence-based understatement over American-style self-promotion

### Contacts & Network
- Connection at Prescribing Services (established contact)
- Guest panelist alongside data professionals from Aviva, UEA bioinformatics, and social impact data roles
- LPC representative experience (community pharmacy sector network)
- Cross-ICB relationships (Suffolk/SNEE colleagues)

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## Education Summary

| Qualification | Institution | Date | Grade/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPharm (Hons) | University of East Anglia | 2011–2015 | 2:1. Research project: 75.1% (Distinction). OSCE: 80%. Failed exams years 1–3 |
| A-Levels | Highworth Grammar School | 2009–2011 | Maths (A*), Chemistry (B), Politics (C) |
| Mary Seacole Programme | NHS Leadership Academy | Apr–Oct 2018 | 78% |
| Snowflake Badge | Snowflake | — | Hands-On Essentials: Data Warehousing |

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## Personal Interests & Technical Hobbies

- **Home automation:** Extensive Home Assistant setup, multiple Raspberry Pis, ESP32 microcontrollers, ESPHome firmware
- **Unraid server:** Running home server infrastructure
- **3D printing:** Bambu Lab printers, PETG and ASA materials, designing enclosures for electronics projects
- **Electronics:** ESP32 projects including environmental monitoring (BME280/BME680), presence detection (LD2410 mmWave), e-ink displays. Planned greenhouse automation project (soil moisture sensors, automated watering)
- **LED neon projects:** WS2811 neon rope LEDs (108 LEDs/meter, 2x 5m sets), 4-way LED controller, 24V 15A power supply
- **Financial markets:** Built Black-Scholes options pricing and gamma mapping tools — first major Python project
- **Photography:** Listed as personal interest
- **Father:** Married with young children, values work-life balance

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## Key Quantified Metrics (Portfolio Highlights)

| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Efficiency savings identified | £14.6M+ (by October 2025) |
| Prescribing budget managed | £220M annual |
| Population served | 1.2 million |
| Cost optimisation algorithm savings | £2.8M potential across 14,000 patients |
| Prescribing reduction (targeted areas) | 50% within 2 months |
| Blueteq form reduction | 70% |
| Time saved (Blueteq automation) | 200 hours immediately + 30 hours/month ongoing |
| Time saved (incentive analysis) | Months → 3 days per cycle |
| National pharmacy solution revenue | ~£1M potential across Tesco estate |
| NMS completion rate improvement | Under 10% → 50–60% |
| Opioid prescribing reduction (NW vs national) | 18.3% vs 6.9% (high-dose) |
| Invoice backlog cleared | 500+ invoices from 2019 → current |

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## Philosophy & Approach

### On Data-Driven Healthcare
"What is the question you want answered?" — Andy's framing for colleagues. Not "what's going on with this drug?" but specific, targeted questions that allow data to provide actionable insight rather than vague trends.

### On the Clinical-Technical Bridge
"The skills gap in healthcare isn't just technical people or just clinical people — it's people who can speak both languages. That gap is your opportunity."

### On Population vs Individual Impact
"As a community pharmacist, we would dispense 6,000 items a month to probably 3,000 patients. I had lovely relationships with patients — I've cried with patients when their significant others died. But the population of our system is 1.1–1.2 million people. Being able to directly target 50,000 people — if you can incentivise GPs to do a single piece of work cost-effectively that prevents even some of them from having a fall and going to A&E with a broken hip — you can't see that direct impact, but I know it's making a difference."

### On Self-Teaching
"Don't wait for the perfect course. Find something that annoys you, break it down into steps, Google each step. Your first code will be bad. That's fine — mine was awful."

### On Communication
"I spend more time in PowerPoint than Python — that's not taught but it's critical." Analysis is worthless if no one understands it.

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## Website Structure Recommendations (From Previous Discussions)

### Current Site
- andy.charlwood.xyz — single-page design, personal voice, clean domain
- Includes LinkedIn links, downloadable CV
- Currently structured more as narrative CV than portfolio

### Recommended Restructure
1. **Hero section** (20 seconds to hook) — name, role, value proposition
2. **Featured projects** (the differentiator — should be immediately visible)
3. **Technical skills** (prove capability)
4. **Abbreviated career highlights**
5. **Contact/links**

### Priority Projects for Case Studies
1. Cost optimisation algorithm (£2.8M savings, 50% reduction in 2 months)
2. Opioid monitoring dashboard (patient safety, system-wide)
3. Tirzepatide Monte Carlo modelling (financial risk, executive decision-making)
4. DOAC switching scenario modeller (interactive tool for executives)
5. Prescribing incentive scheme (novel design, patient-level tracking)

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## Organisational Context

### Norfolk & Waveney ICB Structure
- Part of NHS Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care Board
- Medicines optimisation team sits within broader ICS structure
- Population health pillar looks 2–5 years ahead to understand risks and posture the system
- BI team exists separately but historically poor collaboration with medicines optimisation
- Andy has unusual direct access to ICB databases — typically pharmacy roles don't have this

### ICB Merger (April 2026)
- Norfolk & Waveney merging with Suffolk (from SNEE ICB)
- New system will include: NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk (06L), NHS West Suffolk (07K), NHS Norfolk and Waveney (26A)
- North East Essex (06T) joining Essex ICB
- Significant alignment work ongoing: formularies, incentive schemes, Blueteq, pathways, policies

### Organisational Challenges
- Model ICB Blueprint indicates medicines optimisation marked for "review for transfer" to providers
- Data function deprioritised during ICB merger preparations
- Team morale affected by organisational restructuring
- Previous head departed end of 2024, creating leadership gap Andy filled as interim

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*This document compiled from conversations spanning March 2024 – February 2026. Intended as a comprehensive knowledge base for portfolio website development.*
