LOCAL pharmacists are celebrating triple success in a leading awards ceremony.
Strangford Pharmacy was crowned the best in Northern Ireland at the prestigious Pharmacy in Focus Awards in Belfast at the weekend.
Newcastle chemist Anne McLaughlin was named Pharmacist of the Year and Ardglass pharmacist Paula McDaid was presented with the Enterprise within Pharmacy Award.
There were celebrations in the three community pharmacies this week following the annual awards ceremony, which was hosted at Titanic Belfast on Saturday night.
Strangford pharmacist Shane O’Hare said he was “astonished” his pharmacy had stood out from 550 community pharmacies across Northern Ireland to be named overall winner.
Shane said staff had worked hard for 12 years to create a hub for the community in Strangford, Kilclief, Ballyhornan and Raholp and offer a preion collection and delivery service, smoking cessation programmes, medicine management and reviews,
Shane recently took part in a sponsored swim to raise money for two new lifesaving community defibrillators, which are now located in Strangford and Kilclief.
He was also involved in a successful campaign to overturn a controversial decision by health chiefs to close the village surgery.
He said the award had given the staff a massive boost although they did not know who had nominated them.
“I am very grateful to the person who put us forward for this award, which is such a fantastic achievement for a small rural pharmacy,” he said.
“We would never have expected to be shortlisted, never mind become the winner.
“We have a very loyal customer base and we do go out of our way to look after our customers, providing a lot of extra services across a large rural hinterland.”
He said staff worked hard to ensure customers had access to pharmaceutical care and health care, as well as signposting them to GPs, accident and emergency and other services when necessary.
“They can park easily and talk to a health professional within seconds of coming through the door,” he said.
“We run a good show. This is a boost, not just for ourselves, but for the village and community.”
Anne, from Medicare Pharmacy Group, said she was delighted to received the coveted Pharmacist of the Year award, which recognised her successful track record in delivering patient-focused services.
“I hope this award makes people realise what the pharmacy can do for them,” she said.
“The ‘open door’ aspect of pharmacy needs to be more widely recognised and patients need to know that we’re not just there for dispensing medicines.
“Anyone who becomes a pharmacist does so to help people and this award is just an appreciation for what we do every day.”
Paula was also delighted to accept the Enterprise within Pharmacy Award on behalf of Primarycare and Community Together (PACT) which works to make community pharmacy the first port of call for healthcare in local communities.
“This award is great recognition for community pharmacy to show exactly what it does for the community,’ she said.
“It allows us to celebrate the innovative work that’s being done and we need to make our patients aware of the contribution that we can make to their healthcare.”