NEWS


RESpoNSE to ‘Now hIRINg’ fEAtURE IN lASt ISSUE


‘I am one of those ‘female heavy’ pharmacists who has, in the past, contributed to ‘the burden of maternity leave’ in community pharmacy (I think this is a minority view!). I am also one that has joined the ‘exodus’ to a practice- based post. having spent most of my career in a community pharmacy, I fully understand the daily pressures and, in a way, feel a bit guilty for contributing to this ‘pharmacy crisis’. the decision to move was difficult as the prospect of change and a new challenge was daunting. the motivation to make the change was an exciting new opportunity, building on my experience and knowledge to deliver the same standard of patient care in a role. there was never going to be a good time to make this change to the workforce. there was never going to be sufficient ‘forethought’ to pharmacy contractors. the implementation was never going to be perfectly thought out. the role is bridging a gap within primary care. It is a positive contribution to healthcare. we are doing a good job.’ (Name withheld)


cliff mcElhinney, president of the UcA replies: thank you for your comments. from its announcement, the UcA has welcomed this new role for pharmacists, which allows you to build on the already fantastic contribution you make to primary healthcare. You’re right, we now have a wonderful opportunity to bridge gaps within primary healthcare and better integrate services for the improvement of patient care, and the UcA has offered assistance to hR lead glynis mcmurtry and health & Social care Board to help progress this. however, the fact is that we currently have workforce shortages in pharmacy. Some of these factors influencing workforce availability are unavoidable, but others can be managed. It is the role of the Department of health and hScB to do so and the responsibility of us all to ensure they are fully aware of changing situation on the ground. practice-based pharmacists are doing a great job in forging out a new role for the profession and we look forward to seeing the full impact they make going forward.


4 - phARmAcY IN focUS major success for NI student


A huge ‘well done’ to cian o’caheny, one of medicare pharmacy’s pre-reg pharmacists in medicare fitzroy, which is located on Belfast’s ormeau Avenue.


cian won an incredible fIVE awards at the recent University of Ulster, School of pharmacy & pharmaceutical Sciences Annual Awards ceremony.


cian won the Sir Allen mcclay Award for best final year science thesis (sponsored by Almac); the medicare Award for achievement in professional practice Skills; the Norbrook Award for achievement in translational medicine; the pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland's gold medal for highest aggregate mark in final year mpharm


Cian O’Caheny


(throughout NI) and the Royal pharmaceutical Society for highest aggregate mark in final year mpharm.


Cian’s impressive award collection well done cian! QUB skin patch offers solution to AmR crisis


Antibiotic resistance represents the biggest threat to health today, but now a team of researchers from Queen’s University Belfast, led by professor Ryan Donnelly, professor of pharmaceutical technology, is developing a new type of skin patch (microarray patch) that administers drugs directly into the bloodstream through thousands of individual ‘microneedles’; creating a possible answer to the antibiotic resistance crisis.


these ‘microarray patches’ are a discreet, easy-to-use technology that contains an array of tiny projections that painlessly penetrate the top layer of skin to deliver a drug.


‘one of the biggest problems,’ says professor Donnelly, ‘is that the huge majority of the drugs are taken orally. this means that a small quantity of the compound often finds its way into the colon, creating the perfect breeding ground for drug-resistant bacteria.


‘however, it is clearly impractical to expect patients to inject themselves at home, especially considering that fewer than 20 per cent of people are needle-phobic. Admitting patients to hospital every time they need an antibiotic would quickly bankrupt healthcare providers.’


professor Donnelly and his team hope to develop and evaluate a unique


antibiotic patch that can bypass the gut bacteria and extend the useful lifespan of currently-available antibiotics. on the surface of the antibiotic patch will be tiny needles that painlessly pierce the skin, turning into a jelly-like material that keeps the holes open and allows delivery of antibiotics into the skin for absorption into the bloodstream, thus bypassing the gut bacteria.


placebo patches have already been successfully tested on ten volunteers in a study published in the International Journal of pharmaceutics. the next step is to show that they can deliver the correct dose of antibiotics, before testing them against drugs in capsule form.


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