supported by
PHARMACY HERO PAUL MCDONAGH & PETER WRIGHT, MCDONAGHS PHARMACY, BELFAST
Peter Wright, Stuart Hutchison, Northern Ireland Business Manager, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Paul McDonagh, McDonaghs Pharmacy
two northern Ireland community pharmacists, who hit the headlines last year when they were attacked on their premises, have hit the headlines once again – but this time for much happier reasons!
Pharmacists Paul Mcdonagh and Peter Wright picked up this year’s Pharmacy hero award in light of the fact that they took a very negative experience and used it to help others in their profession by taking their story both to the media and to the department of health to try and make a difference.
Just after 9.30am on thursday 6 april, a man entered Mcdonaghs Pharmacy on Belfast’s falls road brandishing a knife and demanded tramadol from pharmacy owner, Paul Mcdonagh and locum, Peter Wright. When the men refused, the man stabbed both of them – one in the arm and groin, and the other in the chest. despite their injuries, Paul and Peter managed to subdue the attacker until the policy arrived.
one local councillor told the media at the time that the men were definitely heroes. ‘regardless of their own safety,’ he said just after the attack in april last year, ‘they sought to protect their staff and the wider community from an attacker they described as ‘shattering the sanctity of the community’.
despite their injuries, both men were in the pharmacy the following day, while the entire pharmacy team, family, friends and colleagues rallied around to ensure that urgent medication was dispensed and that the pharmacy was cleaned
up and ready for patients the next morning in order to minimise disruption to patients.
following the attack, Paul decided that he wanted to use his experience to try and help other pharmacists, who may find themselves in a similar position.
‘I wanted to publicise what had happened in order to bring something positive out of this experience,’ Paul said, ‘so I did an in-depth television and this meant that the issue of drug misuse and the vulnerability of pharmacists and their staff was brought to the top of the agenda with both the public and with agencies such as the department of health, the health Board, the police and politicians. our experience has subsequently raised awareness of the issues faced by pharmacies every day and was the catalyst for the relaunch of the zero tolerance campaign and a commitment to improving support for pharmacies to tackle violence and abuse. I sincerely hope that some good will come from what was an horrific event.’
Both Paul and Peter were back behind the pharmacy counter within a few days but it’s clear that it will be some time before the memory of the attack dissipates.
Since the attack, Paul admits that the pharmacy has stepped up its security and now finds himself watching people coming in with increased vigilance.
‘the problem that community pharmacy has is that there’s little we can do to actually prevent such attacks happening,’ he says. ‘People now are so desperate for drugs that they will go to any lengths to obtain them and, as far as I can see, the situation is only going to get worse. there’s been such an increase in the prescribed drugs market that more and more people are keen to get into selling them. the pharmacy provides a very lucrative source simply by the nature of what we do. one break-in or burglary can provide someone with a black bag full of drugs for either consumption or for selling. But what can we do to stop this? We can’t stop stocking drugs.
‘one of the first people to come into the pharmacy after the attack and speak to me was the former health Minister, Bairbre de Brún. She had been in post when we were all provided with time-release safes and she actually said to me ‘I thought all of this had stopped!’
the man who entered the shop has subsequently appeared in court where he was charged with eleven counts ranging from attempted murder to grievous bodily harm. Peter and Paul’s wounds may have healed, but the attack left an indelible mark on northern Ireland’s community pharmacy. let’s hope that this very well-deserved Pharmacy hero award may go some way to turning a very negative experience into something more positive.
to see Paul Mcdonagh’s acceptance speech please visit
www.pharmacyinfocus.co.uk/awards
PharMacY In focUS - 39
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