COMMUNITY
hEalth mINIStER mIchEllE O’NEIll SaId fROm thE OUtSEt that ShE wOUld lay OUt hER PRIORItIES fROm thE Off. BUt what aRE thE PRIORItIES fOR thE PhaRmacIStS IN thE mINIStER'S OwN 'Back yaRd' IN hER cONStItUENcy Of mId UlStER?
mId UlStER: majOR ISSUES
w
ith such a wide-ranging brief as health minister, michelle O’Neill said that
it was important that she established and laid out her priorities right from the off. those include tackling mental health inequality, the promotion of early intervention and prevention on the public health agenda and most notably the over- arching transformation and reform of health and social care.
But what do the pharmacists in her constituency feel are the priorities for them?
thE REgION the mid Ulster region covers the areas of magherafelt district council, cookstown district council and dungannon and South tyrone Borough council.
at the 2011 census, the three councils had a total population of 139,903, distributed as follows: • 57,852 in dungannon (41.4 per cent);
16 - PhaRmacy IN fOcUS
• 45,038 in magherafelt (32.2 per cent); and
• 37,013 in cookstown (26.5 per cent).
farming has traditionally been the mainstay of the area’s economy, although dungannon has also carved out a niche in light engineering and food processing. Powerscreen and moy Park are both major employers. construction rose during the boom years, but fell with the housing crash. In the census, the median age in all three councils was 34, compared to the regional figure of 37. Reflecting this younger population, the percentage of people with a long- term health condition (28.5 per cent) is lower than the regional figure
cOOkStOwN In cookstown, a prominent market town with the longest main street in Ireland, pharmacist, Niall falls, who has been in business for 18 years, is one of six pharmacists in the growing town. five of the pharmacists are on
the main street, while the other is beside the two health centres. the catchment area is up to 25,000 - with the central town area buoyed up by heavily populated outlying areas - and Niall believes that the town has proven over the years that it needs this level of pharmacy outlets.
'there's no doubt that cookstown possesses a broad spectrum of patients,' he told Pif. 'On the one hand you have a rapidly increasing cohort of patients in their 30s and 40s, who are becoming obese at an early age and requiring weight management services and cholesterol tablets which, 30-45 years ago, wouldn't have been seen at this age. But, on the flip side, you're also more likely to meet patients aged 50 plus who are more aware of how they need to look after their health. as a result, we've had to start stocking items such as fish oils, frozen wheatgrass, spirulina and vitamin d. we're hearing more people talking about the growing trend for
superfoods so we're definitely seeing a shift in the market.
'Patients today are googling for information about their health. where, previously, they would have come into the pharmacy and asked for advice, they now google and then come in looking for the products, and pharmacy has had to move with the times.
'you only have to look at the number of gyms and fitness outlets that have opened in cookstown since I have come into the business to realise that, while some of the population are going in one direction, others are obviously going in the other.....'
mONEymORE In the picturesque village of moneymore, meanwhile, alison murphy from moneymore Pharmacy, is seeing a range of healthcare issues across the local demograph.
'as a rural village,' alison told Pif, 'we naturally see a lot of farmers, but
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