chARItY PARtNERShIP
Age NI launched its No-one Should have No-one campaign as part of BBc’s Playing our Part initiative. UcA has been supporting Age NI’s campaign to tackle loneliness amongst our older population in the run-up to christmas.
Pharmacies have been selling reindeer dust, which has a NoShNo message on the back of the packet and UcA
has also been sharing pictures of pharmacists with their older patients on our facebook and twitter feeds, highlighting the unique relationships we all have with older people in our community and the vital services provided to support them.
the social media campaign has been building momentum with UcA posts receiving 41,000 views over the campaign. But best of all are the heart-warming messages left by patients and family members thanking pharmacies for the care and support they provide.
Right: Age NI’s duane farrell with Adrienne clugston, operations manager at the UcA and Noel griffin from the department of communities at the ‘Playing our Part’ Event at the BBc.
left: Edel mason (right), pharmacy manager at doris Pharmacy Plus with customer margaret mclaughlin.
fIvE mINUtES WIth... Sara Watson, tynan Pharmacy, Armagh
Tell us a little about yourself... I currently live in Belfast, with my partner catherine and our cat oscar.I like to travel to new places. my most recent holiday was to the lake district in Austria and we are planning a trip to Italy this summer. I also swim and enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews.
When did you qualify? I joined the register in 2003.
Career path to date? I studied at queen's and my pre-reg year was split between the hospital and community. this cemented my desire to be a community pharmacist. I’m originally from tynan, a small rural village outside Armagh where the only business is the local pharmacy.
When the contractor decided to move to New zealand, I was delighted to take up the pharmacy manager post. I've been here for the past thirteen years and I really enjoy being a part of the local community.
It is challenging being the only pharmacist and also having additional responsibilities because the contractor is not local. however, I've also learned a lot for those reasons.
32 - PhARmAcY IN focUS
In what sort of an environment is Tynan Pharmacy located? the pharmacy serves a rural population spanning a number of villages. We work closely with the local gP surgery including the district nurses, which means that it really is a team approach to healthcare. the pharmacy team takes pride in being a central hub of the community and we try to go the extra mile for customers. Knowing our customer base and their families well is partly down to the rural setting and partly because our customers trust us and return to use our services.
How do you think pharmacy has changed as a profession during the years that you've been practising? I think the introduction of pharmacy services beyond the dispensing role, such as medicines use review and managing your medicines, is the main development. more recently, the investment in practice based pharmacists has raised the profile of the profession and highlighted what our skill set can contribute to health and social care.
What's next for pharmacy? given the increasing demands on the health service it's likely that
PHARMACY NEEDS
pharmacists will play a key role, especially in managing long term conditions which may mean an extended prescribing role.
like myself, many pharmacists work alone or in small teams and so with the prospect of more changes within the profession it is important that we have strong networks and an ability to share our experiences and best practice with each other.
I have been working with the UcA on the development of the Pharmacists Representation group, which aims to bring together employee pharmacists into a single membership. I'm looking forward to seeing where that takes us.
YOU
GET INVOLVED IN THE DEBATE AND HELP PROGRESS YOUR PHARMACY PROFESSION
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
MAIREAD@UCA.ORG.UK
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