Dunloy's Aileen scoops major Pharmacy award

The judges were very impressed with Aileen’s enthusiasm and dedication to her role as pharmacist and with her commitment to her patients in the newly opened Kennedy’s Pharmacy in Dunloy.

The pharmacy opened in May 2009 and from the outset, Aileen was instrumental in developing the services within the pharmacy. Initially, she set up a prescription collection service from all the local health centres such as Ballymoney, Cloughmills, Rasharkin, Kilrea, Armoy and Ballymena. The pharmacy also offers a delivery service for those patients who are unable to leave their home to visit the pharmacy.

During Blood Pressure Awareness Week, Aileen launched the Blood Pressure Testing Service within the pharmacy and numerous patients now return regularly to have their blood pressure checked. Aileen has further developed this service to provide a “Health Check Service” where, as well as blood pressure measurement, other parameters are checked such as Body Mass Index and fasting Blood Glucose in addition to having a review of the person’s dietary intake.

Aileen gains special satisfaction from assisting people to stop smoking.

As Aileen said: “I particularly like to help people give up smoking as they are benefiting their health from the day they stop and are improving their health for the future. The service we offer to stop smoking is especially useful in the pharmacy as people wishing to give up can come in to speak directly to the pharmacist for advice.

“If appropriate, they can then be prescribed Nicotine Replacement Therapy without the need to visit their doctor. There is such a range of options available to quitters now, that there really is something to help every smoker give up. We can provide a choice of patches, lozenges, gum and inhalators though the quitting smoker does have to provide their own will power!”

Aileen also highlighted the Minor Ailments Service as being particularly useful in Dunloy.

She continued: “I find the Minor Ailments Service to be an excellent service for patients. With this service, the public can consult with the pharmacist for minor ailments such as cough, colds, sore throat, athlete’s foot, diarrhoea, thrush etc. The pharmacist can then prescribe mediation on prescription without the need to visit the GP. This is particularly useful in Dunloy as there is no GP practice operating in the village.

“I was delighted to have received the Recognition of Excellence Award; it was a great night and a good chance to meet up with old friends from university! I have been lucky to have been involved in the establishment of the new pharmacy in Dunloy. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The rolling out of the patient-based services to the local public has meant that I have the chance to interact more with patients. I feel that this is extremely important especially in an independent community pharmacy setting.

“When asked about Aileen’s award, the owner of the pharmacy, Patrick Kennedy said, “I am delighted for Aileen that she has received the “Recognition of Excellence” award. Aileen has worked extremely hard along with the other pharmacy staff to develop services for the patients in the pharmacy and always deals with everyone in a very friendly and efficient manner. This is reflected in how well people are using their local pharmacy and feedback from patients and customers has been extremely positive. I wish Aileen and her staff continued success in providing such a high quality pharmacy service in Dunloy. Well done Aileen.”