News in Brief

Cost Of A Pint
The 'shocking' cost of alcohol misuse in Northern Ireland was highlighted by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey in June after estimates that its cost to society equates to £679.8million with a range of £500million to £884million. "This research shows that the cost to the Health Service alone may be as high as around £160million each year with a further cost of £82million to Social Services,î the Minister said. ìThese figures are particularly pertinent in the context of my Departmentís very challenging financial situation because this is money that could be spent providing key frontline services."
 
Heart In Hands
The British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland is appealing to fundraisers to help it reach its target of £80,000 by August. The campaign is to recruit more heart nurses to support patients throughout the province and to reduce secondary care admissions.
 
Haiti Fundraising
Staff at Holly Villa in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital have raised over £320 for a group who are travelling to Haiti in October to build houses following the earthquake. The Tyrone Haiti Build is a project in conjunction with the Haven Partnership to support those affected by the disaster.
 
Secondary Care Supported
A new hospital in Omaghs fight for funding has been supported by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey. Speaking at a meeting with the Omagh joint liaison group, the Minister said: "I am fully committed to the development of the new Omagh hospital and will continue to press for the essential funding needed to make this a reality."
 
Commissioning Together
Pharmacists and GPs must work together to define the gaps in commissioning data, review how they can be filled and to determine the correct level of care provision for a particular area, according to Stephen Foster, the head of the new Healthcare Professionals Commissioning Network. The network is open to any health or social care professional who would like to engage in commissioning. tinyurl.com/HCPnetwork
 
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Health Lesson in Art PDF Print E-mail
Written by Laure James - Editor Pharmacy in Focus   
Wednesday, 04 February 2009 09:18
Drugs, alcohol, the innocuous-sounding “I’ll try it once” and the associated health risks of substance misuse were all challenged by students from Corpus Christi School in West Belfast through a Building the Community Pharmacy Project. Culminating in the unveiling of a colourful mural painted by the Year 10 pupils, the project also benefitted from pharmacy contractor Terry Maguire’s input, as he helped to educate the youngsters about the dangers of drugs and also provided the mural’s plinth.

“The suggestion of having a community mural on the front of our Beechmount Road pharmacy was initially a bit of a shock but it has attracted attention from a lot of the public and raises awareness of our wider community involvement,” Terry explained. “When combined with factual, informative and interactive learning about drug misuse, these students are clearly benefitting and more easily absorbing the messages than through a ‘just say no’ approach.”

The project stemmed from discussions about how to engage with teenagers who are exposed to drugs and alcohol which when combined with peer pressure, can lead to experimentation and sometimes addiction. Declan Murray, a Year 10 tutor, approached Terry to jointly apply for BCPP funding and with the valuable assistance of Brendan Lynch, project manager of the Falls Community Drug Programme, began to realise their ideas.

“This really is a terrific project and a great example of pharmacy ensuring that health promotion messages are reaching those that would benefit from greater health education the most,” said chief pharmacist Norman Morrow. “It is amazing to see how the Building the Community Pharmacy Partnership programme has evolved and it is great to see young people take ownership and control of how they would like to see their future develop for themselves and for their friends.”

The programme was run alongside a series of drug awareness seminars, some of which involved visits to three of Dublin’s most successful drug support centres. “The students travelled south to visit some current and former drug users to hear their testimonies and experiences with drugs,” explained Declan. “They met with some people who had clearly suffered as a result of their drug misuse, but were happy to discuss their associated health problems, which included amputation and mental health difficulties. Having Terry and his team involved in this project was invaluable and helped to make the scheme a real success.”
 
Reports of positive changes within the students emerged from parents, teachers and group workers, particularly in terms of their confidence and understanding of health issues. The students involved were described as “ambassadors” for their peers, having delivered presentations and group assemblies focusing on what they had learned about drug and alcohol misuse. “It is great to see the students visibly proud of what they have achieved and to have seen the effects of drug use,” Terry said. “When they came to me and said they would like to produce a mural for the side of the shop, it was a bit of a surprise! They could have been involved in drama or music, but this was their way of creating something with longevity and a key, clear message. All involved in the project’s co-ordination were only too happy to engage with these young people.”