What, then, would Gulabbhai Patel make of his son not only becoming a world-renowned and trailblazing pharmacist, with a host of awards and titles to his name, but now an Honorary Doctor of Health from the family’s local university? 

Mahendra, who as a child in short trousers played on the site where the University of Bradford was being built, said: “I literally touched the foundations of the university. And now to come back as an Honorary Doctor is something I would never have imagined. 

“It makes me emotional to think how proud my parents would be if they could see me receiving this award.  

"Whenever I thought I had done something to be proud of I would run straight to my dad and tell him. Even when I had a paper round as a boy, I would run home to give him my weekly earnings of 50p. I just wanted him to be so proud of me.   

"I grew up in a very ordinary family. We had no acquaintance with anyone from any professional backgrounds, apart from our family doctor. Whenever he was about to visit our house, my mum, Deviben, would be running around trying to make sure we were all smart and tidy. 

"If ever I wanted anyone to shout about my achievements, it would have been my father."

The honorary award is given in recognition of Mahendra’s significant impact as a world class healthcare professional, educator and researcher in promoting and supporting pharmacy, with an unwavering commitment to helping improve health inequalities in under-served communities, and as an alumnus of the University of Bradford.  

Constant thread

In fact, the university is a thread that has run through the course of Mahendra’s life, from those early days playing amongst the rubble on Great Horton Road in the 1960s to gaining his degree in Pharmacy as well as his PhD at the institution, and his continuing association as Honorary Visiting Professor.  

He said: “Bradford and the University is always with me, wherever I have been in the world or in my career. It makes me terrifically proud to receive this honorary award. I don’t have the words nor the level of vocabulary to express the magnitude of what it means to me. 

“My message to the graduates is to be inclusive in what you do and always bring people with you. Don’t think of your career in terms of working for others, but rather working with them.  

“Reach for your dreams but make sure they are realistic and if you do have times when you fall, just remember there’s always the next day to pick yourself up and be ready to go again.” 

After graduating, Mahendra managed a community pharmacy on the border between Bradford and Leeds before spending time working in Alabama, USA. It was when he returned to West Yorkshire as the owner of three pharmacies, that he saw first-hand the gaping health chasm between richer, white populated areas  and poorer, ethnically diverse areas. It would become the subject not only of his PhD but the driving force throughout his career.  

Mahendra, who is dad to Meghna and Vivek, said: “I had one pharmacy on Manchester Road, Bradford, serving largely an ethnic minority community within an area of high deprivation, where the treatment was noticeable for more minor ailments, such as head lice, coughs and colds. Then there were my pharmacies on the outskirts of Leeds serving a  wholly white, working-class area, where they were more receptive to prevention of diseases such as heart disease and managing longer-term health conditions such as diabetes and arthritis."

Global impact

Mahendra subsequently went on to guide and work with the British Heart Foundation, developing the national educational toolkit, Healthy Hearts, to improve heart disease in the community, which won the British Medical Association Patient Information Award in 2010. Over the years, he has helped raise over £400,000 for the charity along with other national charities.  

Working with NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), Mahendra pioneered a programme of Student Champions which became a national programme in 40 universities across nursing, medical, pharmacy and dental faculties, enabling students to engage with the institute and gain opportunities to further their careers. He was among the first cohort to gain a fellowship from NICE (2010-2013).  

In 2010, Mahendra became a founding member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, following the splitting of the previous embodiment of the society, and in subsequent years became its elected national board and assembly member, as well as treasurer. He was awarded the prestigious fellowship of the Society in 2016 and later the President’s Charter Award for Outstanding Services to Pharmacy.  

Among his many achievements, Mahendra is also Patron of the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association, a Teaching and Faculty Member of UNESCO, a BMJ Team Diabetes Award winner, the first International Fellow of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association and International Honorary Ambassador of Lebanese Pharmacists.  

Mahendra is currently national lead supporting inclusive and representative recruitment to clinical trials for Covid-19 at the University of Oxford, and has now established the Centre for Research Equity, the first such centre of its kind. To top it off, last year, he was awarded an OBE for services to pharmacy.  

'Blessed'

Mahendra, who was joined at the ceremony at the University of Bradford by his wife Manisha and son, Vivek, said: “Reflecting back on my journey, I have to pinch myself these days to believe this is all for real, because I couldn’t imagine ever being able to do it again nor with anywhere near the same degree of pleasure or success.  I do have dreams, yes, but I’ve always been realistic about them. 

“I’ve been fortunate and blessed throughout my career to have such an eclectic mix of people around me from all walks of life who have provided me with profound learning to grow and grow, and my greatest fulfilment in life is that I’ve been able to support and help others to the forefront selflessly and honestly, without expecting anything in return.”