One Size FIts All

Among baggage reclaim carousels across the globe, passengers are reuniting themselves with exactly the same luggage in one country as they so trustingly parted from in another.

The Direct Approach

In a bid to raise awareness about the breadth, variety and indeed complexity of services offered throughout community pharmacies in Northern Ireland, pharmacy contractors Lee Dearn and James McKay joined David McCrea in Dundela Pharmacy to welcome the Health Minister.

The Right Formula

First the Albert Clock was treated to a reinvigorating cleanse, then the Merchant Hotel opened one of Belfast's premier jazz bars but the redevelopment of High Street doesnít stop there. Formula Healthís face-lift has turned heads of customers, commercial businesses and the Lord Mayor alike.

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

Technical Advances

Written by Laure James - Editor Pharmacy in Focus

Monday, 04 August 2008 11:38

McLernon Computers, a family firm which has been trading in Northern Ireland for over 75 years, have secured new business from four of Ireland’s top pharmacy chains in the first half of 2008. This means they have the largest market share of any pharmacy software provider throughout the island of Ireland.

Pharmacies throughout Ireland have been placing the security and responsibility of their software in the hands of a family-run business from Northern Ireland, known better as McLernons Computers. Four major multiples throughout the island have recently made the switch to McLernons with Sam McCauley Chemists and Boots buying into the company’s MPS system while the WeCare and McSweeney groups have extended their commitment to McLernons by installing some brand new EPOS software.

The deals, which are collectively worth more than €1.8m over the next five years, have marked a strong period of consistent growth for the firm which launched its version of MPS five years ago.

Robin Hanna, sales director at McLernon Computers commented; “These are challenging times for pharmacists, with the HSE cutbacks biting deep in the Republic of Ireland. Pharmacists are being increasingly challenged to maintain high standards of care for their patients while coping with a decrease of over 8 per cent in their revenue from the HSE.

“Our software helps our customer base, the largest throughout Ireland, deliver high quality healthcare to their communities, and our business management tools help to give them the support they need to remain profitable.”

As a testament to the IT experts’ reliability, Will Power, IT manager at Sam McCauleys, spoke of how successful making the transition to McLernons was. “The installation of the software went incredibly smoothly – we rolled out 23 stores in just two months and in my experience I think there is very little software that could stand up to that kind of roll out unless it was very well tested and proven to work.