NEWS Cliff-face change
Cliff McElhinney of Urban Pharmacy, Belfast, took up the reins of the Ulster Chemists’ Association at its Annual General Meeting on 22nd September.
O
ut-going President Killian Johnston had extended his term to 18 months in order to
complete the new UCA Strategy document and see through the update of the UCA’s Rules of Association which were adopted at the AGM.
Killian said “The Minister’s recent announcements herald another major shift in how our health service is organised and it is vital that there is a strategy in place to help promote community and primary care pharmacy within the new organisational frameworks that will be developed over the next 3 years.”
Cliff owns and manages Urban Pharmacy on the busy Dublin Road in Belfast, an area which sees a wide variety of patients and customers in the pharmacy every day and with extended opening hours, the team are kept very busy.
The theme of Cliff’s Presidency will be to build on the strategy put forward by UCA and extend and strengthen the support offered to small and medium sized pharmacies in Northern Ireland.
Cliff said ‘UCA is the local association our members can turn to when they need assistance. I and the Executive Committee will be building on that throughout 2016, ensuring this organisation provides support that is practical, relevant and responsive to our members’ needs.’
In January the first Associate members of UCA will start work on developing support and communication for individual pharmacists working within the community and primary care sector.
Cliff feels this is an important opportunity for employed pharmacists to get more involved ‘Engagement from pharmacists is vital to the success of community pharmacy and they need to have the opportunity to get involved in developing their profession and contributing to the expansion of healthcare services through pharmacy.’
Cliff took up his position at the end of November last year. The news of Cliff’s election came as the Ulster Chemists’ Association published their Pharmacy Strategy and Cliff outlined membership engagement and support as his top priorities for the coming year.
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pharmacyinfocus.co.uk
“We will be enhancing our network of UCA Local meetings encouraging all pharmacists to come along and hear about new developments and take advantage of the CPD offered,” he says. “We will also be driving forward our education programme and that is something I am passionate about, enhancing the practical education and training it provides including the launch of a Pharmacy Management & Leadership Programme starting in January.”
Embracing Challenges and Opportunities “This is a hugely exciting time for the profession with many changes and innovations underway. The UCA is the champion of the whole profession and I feel immensely privileged to be leading the organisation at this time,” he added.
“I will ensure that wherever possible I will promote the expertise that the UCA has.
“I will work with the regulator to recognise that the UCA is a cornerstone to revalidation and demonstration of continuing fitness to practice and I will seek to attain membership and through my personal action show the value of the UCA organisation.
“I will ensure I take every opportunity to promote the whole profession to health professionals and the public so the essential role we play in health and social care is better understood. Across all sectors, I will promote the professions role in patient safety as well as our role in maximising health outcomes of the public we serve.”
Pharmacists Urged to Support Professional Development In his speech at the Pharmacy in Focus Awards, Cliff encouraged pharmacists to get involved in their profession’s development through the new UCA Associate section.
UCA is working with a group of pharmacists to develop this new membership offering from the ground up. Among them is Pharmacy in Focus Award winner John Hamill who feels that Associate Membership of the UCA is a great idea because “currently only contractor pharmacists can avail of the services provided by UCA membership and considering that the vast majority of pharmacists are employees there is a need to address the imbalance.”
“All pharmacists, from all backgrounds including primary and secondary care, academia and industry all need representation and the support structure offered by the UCA. This Associate Membership would be the initial stepping stone to driving the development of the UCA to enhance its service provision to cater for the day to day needs and respond to the concerns of individual pharmacists”
Cliff says, “All pharmacists, from all backgrounds including primary and secondary care, academia and industry all need representation and the support structure offered by the UCA. This Associate Membership would be the initial stepping stone to driving the development of the UCA to enhance its service provision to cater for the day to day needs and respond to the concerns of individual pharmacists.
“The opportunity now lies with the pharmacists on the ground to evolve the UCA and direct its efforts in ways not previously considered. Now is the time to act to make this a core focus of our day to day practices. We all have a voice, and this could be a very appropriate vehicle to utilise, to have our own concerns realised and acted upon. Initial discussions have focused around employee representation, employment laws, training and education and issues around capacity to fulfil our pharmaceutical obligations and how an Associate Membership
may contribute considerably to us individually and collectively having a bigger say in our profession.
“The call is now being put out to encourage as much uptake and contribution to the evolvement of this new membership. I personally feel we have much to gain by being part of the UCA development of Associate Members and kick on to deal with the big issues affecting pharmacy as a bigger, stronger unit inclusive of everyone opinions.”
Joining John on the group are Madeeha Malak, Timothy McClure, Ciaran Byrne, Sara Watson, Thomas Hughes and Adam Bartholomew. The group are encouraging more interested pharmacists to come forward to work with them in shaping and developing this new membership. For more information contact Mairead Conlon, UCA Representative Pharmacist on 028 9065 6576 or via
mairead@uca.org.uk.
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