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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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Sixty Not Out PDF Print E-mail
Written by Laure James - Editor Pharmacy in Focus   
Wednesday, 04 February 2009 09:20
The NHS marked its sixtieth birthday last year but was not the only healthcare provider to round off 2008 with diamond celebrations. The team at Randalstown Pharmacies welcomed their community, a past mayor, suppliers, colleagues and friends to commemorate this significant milestone. John and Lily Daly established their first shop in Randalstown in 1948, opening the third pharmacy in the town. When John passed away in 1966, Lily continued to grow the business until 1973 when their daughter Sheelagh took over.

“My mother and I formed JJ Daly & Co which continued to trade until 2005. A new Medical Centre was proposed for Randalstown,” explained Sheelagh, who is better known as Sheelagh Hillan, past Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland president, past chair of the Pharamceutical Contractors Committee and past president of the Ulster Chemists’ Association, and current executive committee member. “In 2003 and Pauline Brown and I agreed to a merger which allowed for the opening of a pharmacy in the Medical Centre.

“Martha Magowan came on board as a director of the new company and we opened on Valentine’s Day in the new premises, retaining our original premises on Main Street, and closed the pharmacy on New St. I have lived in Randalstown all my life and brought my husband to live here, giving him a quicker commute to his job as an accountant in Belfast than his previous route across Belfast! I am not sure that would still be true now.”

Sheelagh is confident that a combination of strong rapports and a great team are the secrets to the success of Pharmacy in Randalstown since its inception over sixty years ago. “You certainly have to know your patients, the GPs and other practitioners involved in their care, excellent communication levels are needed to encourage knowledge sharing,” she told NIPinF. “The early days of each change were fraught with trials but all have been worthwhile. Pharmacy is of course still going through radical changes but these periods are often necessary.”

So how has the local community of Randalstown changed or evolved over the past six decades? “We have a much younger, more upwardly mobile community these days and have seen some tremendous changes within the area,” she added “We are certainly less dependent on farming and agriculture and the linen industry and far more weighted towards technology. We also have many more young families as well as nursing homes and as with elsewhere in Northern Ireland, we have a growing and aging population.”

The team have already made significant steps to accommodating for changing patient needs, through installing two major refits as well as opening the branch within the medical centre. “We provide all the new enhanced services and employ five pharmacists so we always have three available on duty,” Sheelagh continued. “Our expansions breathed new life into the business and we are looking forward to introducing new services over the coming years.”

To honour their anniversary, Randalstown Pharmacies held a special open day that included special offers in-store, refreshments and service promotions. “Our services include medicine use reviews, helicobacter pylori testing, smoking cessation, welfare food NHS prescriptions, living aids and a full retail division for health and beauty.”

Former Randalstown mayor James Graham also visited the pharmacy to congratulate the team, drawing a public reminder that he was now a ‘service user’. “It was wonderful to welcome Mr Graham who thanked us for all our services to the community and commenting on the value of local pharmacy,” said Sheelagh.

The pharmacy team are also very committed to fundraising for charity. “To date £600 has been sent to the Cancer Unit at the City Hospital and a similar amount has been sent to the third world via charities such as Trocaire and Concern. I am extremely grateful for the generosity of our friends and customers.”

Keith McLernon, managing director of McLernons Computers, attended the day and presented the company with a donation to a charity of their choice to congratulate the group. “Dalys Pharmacy, as it was then, has been a customer of McLernons since the very early days of trading and I felt that such a milestone shouldn’t go unnoticed,” Keith said. “Sheelagh is noted for her involvement in various charities and I was delighted to help her in her efforts to raise funds for a number of cancer charities here. Congratulations and we hope to see many more years of successfully caring for the needs of people in Randalstown.”

In speaking to NIPinF, Robert Agnew congratulated Randalstown Pharmacies. “I am very happy to hear that Randalstown Pharmacies has reached this important milestone and in achieving it has always provided nothing short of premier community and primary care. The range of services and the interest and support from their local customers and patients is testament to their quality and how dedicated the team is to public health.”

Keith McLernon, managing director of McLernons Computers, attended the day and presented the company for a donation to a charity of their choice to congratulate the group. “Dalys Pharmacy, as it was then, has been a customer of McLernons since the very early days of trading and I felt that such a milestone shouldn’t go unnoticed,” Keith said. “Sheelagh is noted for her involvement in various charities and I was delighted to help her in her efforts to raise funds for a number of cancer charities here. Congratulations and we hope to see many more years of successfully caring for the needs of people in Randalstown.”

Paul McSorley, national accounts manager of Roche Diagnostics, commented; “It is wonderful to see such a valuable and successful pharmacy business within Northern Ireland celebrating such a significant anniversary. Randalstown Pharmacies have served their communities within the town for not only a long number of years but have used the very best of their professionalism, pharmacy expertise and charming customer service to keep customers, patients and their families coming back. Congratulations to Sheelagh and all her staff for this remarkable achievement.”