Category: News

Don’t miss out on your winter health protection.

That’s the appeal from Northern Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer to everyone eligible for COVID-19 booster and flu vaccination.

Professor Sir Michael McBride said: “While the threat from COVID-19 has significantly reduced since the height of the pandemic, it is still very capable of causing serious ill health and in some cases death. The same goes for flu.

“That’s why I am again strongly encouraging everyone who is eligible for these jabs to not miss out. Vaccination will give you added protection over winter, when there is invariably a heightened risk from both viruses.”

The Chief Medical Officer added that getting vaccinated is also “an act of solidarity” with our health and social care system and its staff.

“We know that winter will once again be an extremely pressurised time for health and social care services right across these islands.

“Flu and COVID-19 cases will contribute to those pressures. Vaccination is a practical step members of the public can take to support health and social care services. It can help suppress infection rates, freeing up resources to treat other patients. It will help us help you in providing the care you need. Vaccination is a win win for you and our health service.” 

The Public Health Agency brought forward the planned start date of this year’s autumn flu and COVID-19 vaccination programmes. This was a precautionary measure following the identification of a new COVID-19 variant.

Advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicates that starting the autumn vaccine programme sooner will deliver greater protection, supporting those at greatest risk of severe illness and reducing the potential impact on our health and social care system.

An early priority of the vaccination programme will be care homes across Northern Ireland.

The vaccination programme is a major concerted effort across the health and social care system. Community pharmacists are taking the lead on care home vaccinations, while GPs will be inviting their eligible patients to come forward for their jabs. Patients do not have to contact their GP practices but should wait to be invited – or attend a participating community pharmacy.

The Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, Gerard Greene, said: “Community pharmacists are playing a key role in the vaccination programme offering those eligible the option to receive their vaccines close to home and at a time that suits. If you are eligible for a vaccine, you don’t have to wait, contact your local community pharmacy today to get your vaccine and protect yourself and your loved ones this winter.”

The COVID-19 booster vaccine is being offered to the following cohorts, in line with JCVI guidance:

• all residents and staff in care homes
• all adults aged 65 years and over on 31 March 2024
• persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as laid out in the Immunisation Green Book, COVID-19 chapter(external link opens in a new window / tab) (Green Book)
• frontline health and social care workers
• persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts (as defined in the Green Book) of people with immunosuppression
• persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers (as defined in the Green Book)

Those eligible for flu vaccine in NI in 2023/24 are:

• all preschool children aged two to four years on 1 September 2023
• all primary and secondary (up to and including year 12) school children
• those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the influenza chapter in ‘Immunisation against infectious disease(external link opens in a new window / tab)’ (‘Green Book’)
• all those aged 65 years and over on 31 March 2024
• pregnant women
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline health and social care workers (HSCWs)

A new campaign focussing on the importance of childhood immunisations has been launched in pharmacies across Northern Ireland.

The ‘childhood immunisation’ campaign highlights the importance of vaccination and the protection provided by the childhood immunisation programme. The campaign is running in community pharmacies throughout August and September as part of the Living Well service.

Living Well is offered in over 500 pharmacies across Northern Ireland and provides information and advice on public health issues. It is delivered in partnership with the Public Health Agency (PHA), Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI), and the Department of Health (DoH).

Geraldine Mallon, Immunisation Programme Manager, PHA said: “The PHA strongly recommends that babies and children are vaccinated according to the Routine Childhood Immunisations Schedule. Vaccination rates have seen a slight decrease over recent years so it is important vaccination coverage is improved as soon as possible to help prevent the spread of avoidable serious and sometimes deadly diseases such as measles and polio.

“If you are unsure if your child is up to date with vaccinations the easiest way to check is to look at your child’s red book or speak to your health visitor or GP. If your child has missed a vaccination, please contact your GP practice to book an appointment as soon as you can to make sure they have maximum protection against disease.”

Vaccination is the most important thing you can do to protect your child against ill health. After clean water, vaccination is the most effective public health intervention in the world for saving lives, promoting good health and preventing serious illness.

Due to the high number of children receiving vaccinations in Northern Ireland over the past number of decades, many serious childhood infectious diseases are rarely heard of. Recently, however, vaccination rates have seen a slight decrease. It is crucial vaccine uptake remains high in Northern Ireland to prevent many of these serious diseases returning from parts of the world where they still occur. If this happens, children living in Northern Ireland who are not vaccinated will be at risk of these infections and potentially life-changing complications, even death.

Ronan Warnock, community pharmacist at Tempo Pharmacy said: “Immunisation is important for children because it helps provide immunity before exposure to potentially life-threatening diseases. Immunisation has helped rid the world of some very serious debilitating diseases, smallpox, for example, has now been eradicated thanks to vaccines.

“Parents with queries about any aspect of their child’s immunisations are welcome to call in to any of the participating pharmacies for an informal chat to find out more about the childhood immunisation programme.”

Vaccination is like a protective shield. Vaccines work by training your body’s immune system to make antibodies, which are proteins that help fight infection. If you are re-exposed to the disease in the future, your immune system ‘remembers’ the disease and quickly destroys it before you become unwell. The Childhood immunisation campaign encourages parents and guardians to have their babies and children vaccinated according to the routine childhood immunisation schedule. This will give them maximum protection against disease.

For more information, call into your local community pharmacy and pick up a free Immunisation protects leaflet.

Notes to Editors

Geraldine Mallon, Immunisation Programme Manager with PHA, Ronan Warnock, community pharmacist at Tempo Pharmacy, and pharmacy assistants Florence Campbell and Bernie Wright.

Local elected representatives Emma Sheerin MLA, Linda Dillon MLA and Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill MLA visited O’Kane’s Pharmacy in Draperstown to learn about the pressures facing community pharmacists across Northern Ireland.

Laurence O’Kane and community pharmacists Aideen Shaw and Aine Laverty discussed with MLAs their desire as health professionals to provide additional services for the community and take pressure of the health service if workforce, workload and funding issues were addressed.

Community pharmacists have long campaigned for the Department of Health to address the recurrent underfunding of the community pharmacy sector and support local pharmacists in their efforts to continue delivering safe services to patients and grapple with rising costs.

The Mid-Ulster MLAs were also briefed by Community Pharmacy NI Chief Executive Gerard Greene who said that CPNI is eager to work with the Department to tackle the issues impacting the sector and the urgent need for stability to build the service going forward.

Michelle O’Neill, Vice President, Sinn Féin, said:

“It has been great to visit such a vibrant community pharmacy, to listen to their concerns, see first-hand the difference they make in the lives of everyone who walks through their doors, and hear about their hopes for the future of community pharmacy. There is no doubt that pharmacies across the north are at crisis point. We desperately need to see the return of a functioning Executive to address the serious underfunding and pressures felt by the entire network”.

During the visit, Laurence O’Kane said:

“In my 37 years working as a pharmacist, I have not experienced such profound difficulties in the community pharmacy sector as those we are facing now. We are all trying to deal with workforce issues, medicines shortages, workload pressures and rising costs all while working to ensure that we continue to provide safe services for patients. I am confident that community pharmacy can do more to help alleviate pressures on the health service. As more recently qualified pharmacists, Aideen and Aine are keen to use the knowledge and clinical skills they have to help manage patients in their local community. If we were properly resourced, we would be in a position to offer more clinical services which would allow patients to see us first without the need to visit their GP.

It has been great to have our local elected representatives here today to listen to our concerns. It is my hope that they have been encouraged to work towards turning all of this potential into a reality”.

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive, Community Pharmacy NI, added:

“The value of community pharmacy and the contribution it makes to local communities and the health service can’t be underestimated. Everyday community pharmacy teams see, treat, and manage patients with a range of health conditions. These local and often timely interventions help to achieve better patient outcomes and alleviate pressures across the wider health and social care system.

“We are clear that community pharmacy can do more with the right level of funding and while we have made our points to the Department, it was extremely helpful to be able to brief MLAs on these issues, especially the First Minister Designate as we all look towards the return of Stormont. There is a long way to go, but with the right political will and support I believe we can unleash the potential of community pharmacy and transform the way healthcare in the community is delivered”.

Father and daughter community pharmacy duo have briefed elected representatives on the current crisis facing community pharmacies across Northern Ireland at an All-Party Group Meeting held at Stormont.

Laurence and Laura O’Kane from O’Kane’s Pharmacy in Draperstown told MLAs that community pharmacists need support to grapple with the workforce, workload and funding issues which threaten to close the doors of local pharmacies in the heart of the community.

They highlighted that although community pharmacists are eager to do more, provide additional services, and take pressure off the health service, the sector urgently needs support to meet rising costs, provide stability and develop the workforce for new roles in the future.

Community pharmacists have long campaigned for adequate and recurrent funding from the Department of Health to allow safe services to patients to be properly planned and resourced.

Elected representatives were also briefed by Community Pharmacy NI Chief Executive Gerard Greene and Chair Peter Rice who said that CPNI wants to work with the Department to address many of the issues that have affected the sector, including the funding shortfall, providing the necessary stability needed to underpin the current service and build the service going forward.

Speaking to MLAs at the meeting in Stormont, Laurence O’Kane from O’Kane’s Pharmacy in Draperstown said:

“Community pharmacy is at crisis; it is at a point at which in my 37 years as a pharmacist I haven’t experienced before. Our hands are tied as we try to deal with workforce issues, medicines shortages, rising costs and keep the doors of our pharmacies open for patients. We need immediate investment to not only help local pharmacies survive, but also unleash their potential”.

Laura O’Kane added “We need to see more community pharmacists becoming Independent Prescribers as this would enable them to deliver more clinical services that would allow patients to see us first without the need to visit their GP. With the unique accessibility of community pharmacy, we see patients every day without appointment, many with long-term conditions. As a newly qualified pharmacist I want to do more to help manage these patients in the community and alleviate pressures across the health service, but we need the investment in our profession to make this happen”.

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive, Community Pharmacy NI, added:

“Community pharmacists are some of the most accessible healthcare professionals in the heart of the community, with over 123,000 people using community pharmacies each day in Northern Ireland. We have heard today that community pharmacists here are eager to do more to support their patients.

As the healthcare landscape and patient needs continue to evolve, community pharmacists are well placed and possess the clinical skills required to provide a range of services that can work to alleviate health and social care and GP pressures, solve primary care bottlenecks, and relieve the burden on secondary care.

However, for this to happen, we are clear that there must be an urgent injection, as was announced last week in Scotland where a £20m funding injection was confirmed. We urgently need stabilisation of community pharmacy funding and for the chronic systemic underfunding of the network to be addressed alongside plans that will see the development of the workforce. There is much potential, but a long way to go and we need the support of elected representatives to appeal to the Department of Health to turn all of this into reality”.

A new campaign focussing on the importance of getting the best from your sunscreen and reducing your risk of skin cancer has been launched in community pharmacies across Northern Ireland.

‘Care in the sun’ is running in community pharmacies throughout June and July as part of the Living Well service.

Living Well is offered in over 500 pharmacies across Northern Ireland and provides information and advice on public health issues. It is delivered in partnership by the Public Health Agency (PHA), Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI), and the Department of Health (DoH).

Denise McCallion, Health Improvement Manager at the PHA, said: “Sunlight helps provide our bodies with vitamin D, supports bone health, lowers blood pressure, helps prevent disease and promotes good mental health. However, over-exposure to UV radiation can damage skin and the majority of skin cancers are caused by over exposure to UV radiation.”

“Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Northern Ireland and accounts for over 31% of all cancers diagnosed. Over 4,000 people develop skin cancer each year and almost 1 in 10 of these are malignant melanoma, the most serious form. Malignant melanoma rates have risen over the past 30 years from an average of 103 cases per year in the mid-1980s, to 382 cases in recent years.”

According to the charity Skcin, around 90% of all skin cancers are caused by over-exposure to UV radiation from the sun and/or sunbeds. This means that the majority of all skin cancers are preventable by undertaking simple sun protection measures.

Stephen Slaine, community pharmacist, added: “Community pharmacists regularly help patients with a range of common health concerns associated with ‘Care in the sun’ such as skin protection, treatment for sun exposure and mole concerns. This campaign is an opportunity for you to chat to your local pharmacist or pharmacy team about how to look after your skin, how to stay safe in the sun, talk about medication that could increase your skin’s sensitivity to sunlight and also to raise any concerns, especially in relation to prevention and early detection of skin cancer.” 

Top tips for protecting your skin from cancer:

• Check when you are most at risk from UV radiation. Levels of UV radiation are highest in Northern Ireland between March and October – even when it is cool or overcast. UV rays are strongest between 11.00am and 3.00pm.

• If you over expose yourself to UV radiation, you increase your risk of sunburn, premature skin ageing and skin cancer.

• Check the UV index. The index indicates how much solar UV radiation is reaching the Earth’s surface and how careful we need to be. UV levels vary with the seasons and time of day, but when the UV index is 3 or more our skin needs protected. If you are going outdoors, check what the UV index will be throughout the day. You can check daily and hourly UV index forecasts via an app on your mobile phone.

Help protect your skin when the UV index is 3 or more by following this guidance:

1. Stay in the shade between 11.00am and 3.00pm, when UV rays are strongest.
2. Cover up with suitable clothing.
3. Wear a broad brimmed hat and sunglasses with 100% UV protection.
4. Buy sunglasses that have a CE mark or carry British StandardBS EN ISO 12312-1.
5. Use sunscreen on exposed skin; an SPF of at least 15 and UVA 4 stars as recommended by the Department of Health and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
6. Babies under six months should stay out of direct sunlight. If exposure to sunlight is unavoidable, apply a small amount of high protection sunscreen to exposed areas, such as the cheeks and back of the hands. For children over six months choose SPF 30 or SPF 50 to protect against UVB rays and minimum UVA 4 stars. Higher SPF will give more protection.
7. Avoid sunburn by never allowing your skin to go pink or red in the sun. Sunburn doesn’t have to be raw, peeling or blistering skin; for people with darker skin it might feel tender, irritated or itchy.
8. Choose and use the correct amount of sunscreen – an adult needs six teaspoons distributed evenly on the body with an SPF of at least 15 and UVA 4 or 5 stars.
9. Avoid sunbeds – they can cause over exposure to UV radiation.
10. Check your skin at least once a month, be aware of any changes, and speak to your GP or pharmacist if you notice any mole changes, new moles or abnormal skin changes.

Doreen Regan, Skin Cancer Prevention Coordinator at Cancer Focus NI, said that it’s important to remember the care in the sun messages both at home and abroad: “Everyone is at risk of UV damage, but certain groups are particularly at risk including babies and children, those with fair hair and skin, outdoor workers and people with a family history of skin cancer. Just one episode of sunburn, especially in childhood, can double the lifetime risk of malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.”

To find out more visit www.careinthesun.org or call into your local pharmacy.  

If you are concerned about skin cancer you can call the Cancer Focus NI free information and support NurseLine on 0800 783 3339 or email one of the charity’s nurses on nurseline@cancerfocusni.org

Reacting to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak MP’s announcement that new investment in community pharmacy services in England will result in people in England being able to obtain some prescription medicines for a range of common health conditions from a pharmacy without visiting a GP, Community Pharmacy NI Chief Executive, Gerard Greene said:

“This announcement from the Prime Minister which will enable people in England to access some prescription medicines without visiting their GP first is welcomed and will go some way in addressing the pressures on GP services and the wider health and social care system. In the past number of years, we have seen more people turning to community pharmacies for advice and treatment and as healthcare professionals, we believe that community pharmacists are well placed to take on this additional role in providing frontline health care in the local community”.

“Community pharmacists here are eager to do more to support health and social care, and we are certain that similar arrangements for Northern Ireland would be incredibly beneficial. For this to happen however, there must be a stabilisation of community pharmacy funding, with the systemic underfunding of the network addressed urgently. Community pharmacists also need confidence that they operate on a solid foundation. This can only be guaranteed if there is the right level of recurrent funding which would allow services to be properly planned and resourced.

A clear workforce strategy is also required to support an expanded role for community pharmacists in a structured approach to enable the planning of services and more independent prescribers. In light of this announcement, it is now even more important that local patients here are not disadvantaged and that the same services are also available in Northern Ireland. There is much potential, but a long way to go”. We want to work with the Department of Health to turn all of this into reality”.