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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Call In And Quit PDF Print E-mail
Written by Laure James - Editor Pharmacy in Focus   
Monday, 21 March 2011 13:40

Last year over 23,000 people in Northern Ireland set a quit date through smoking cessation services, an increase of around 10 per cent on the previous year, and it is this success that has prompted the campaign to encourage more smokers to use the services provided by local pharmacies.

“Statistics have shown that providing easy access to these services encourages smokers to take the first steps towards quitting,” explains Michael Guerin, managing director of Medicare. “By encouraging more use of these ‘walk in’ clinics we can not only help to reduce the number of people smoking, but also the number of people that are taking up seats in GP surgeries in order to seek advice and guidance which can easily be provided without the need for an appointment through their local pharmacy."

The figures for smokers who set a quit date last year through smoking cessation services included 320 young people aged 11 to 16, with around 112 (35 per cent) of them reported to have successfully quit at the four-week follow-up.

With these facts taken into consideration, smoking cessation programmes are now compelled to offer children as young as 11 the opportunity to quit, in an attempt to prevent them from smoking as adults. On average over 50 per cent of adult smokers who set a quit date go on to successfully quit by the time of their four week follow up.

“Smokers need support at a local level that is consistent and accessible,” Michael added. “Being able to pop in to their local pharmacy for advice and support should help to increase their ability to successfully quit.”