Services
We are dedicated to providing patients with continued excellence in our services.
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Extra care is necessary when taking several different medicines. This is particularly true for patients with visual or cognitive impairment.
Blister packs make it simple and easy to take the right medicines at the right time by dividing your tablets into separately sectioned blisters, each marked with the time of day when the tablets should be taken.
This can improve your medication adherence and reduce errors. Caregivers can also easily check that the right medicines have been taken in a timely manner.
Blister packs can help if you are
- Struggling to organise medicines.
- Finding it difficult to remember when to take your medicines.
- Helping to look after someone else.
- Recently home from hospital and suddenly have a lot more tablets to take.
- Looking after someone who is visually impaired.
- On a complex medication regime.
- Early Detection of Hypertension: Regular checks can identify high blood pressure (hypertension) early, a condition often without symptoms but a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
- Prevention of Serious Health Issues: Monitoring blood pressure helps prevent complications like heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, and vision loss.
- Monitoring Existing Conditions: If you have conditions like hypertension or heart disease, regular checks help manage and adjust treatment plans effectively.
- Assessing Treatment Efficacy: For those on blood pressure medications, regular checks ensure the treatment is working as intended.
- Overall Health Awareness: Knowing your blood pressure helps you stay informed about your cardiovascular health and take proactive steps in maintaining it.
- Lifestyle Adjustments: Regular monitoring can motivate healthier lifestyle choices, such as improved diet, increased physical activity, and stress management.
A blood sugar test is used to test people for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a condition characterised by high blood sugar (glucose) levels. It is caused by a lack or insufficiency of insulin which regulates the way glucose is used in your body.
You should consider a blood sugar test if you experience symptoms of diabetes such as
- Constantly feeling thirsty or hungry
- Unexplained weight loss
- Frequent urination
- Blurry vision
- Extreme fatigue
This is especially the case if you any of the risk factors apply to you including being overweight, family history of diabetes, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, over 40 years old or high cholesterol.
The American Diabetes Association recommends testing for prediabetes and risk for future diabetes for all people beginning at age 45 years. If tests are normal, it is reasonable to repeat testing at a minimum of 3-year intervals.
A person’s BMI, or body mass index, is one way of measuring whether you are a healthy weight for your height. Body Mass Index is calculated using a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) divided by the square of height in meters (m2).
Initially used as a statistical index of health and weight for a population group, BMI can be used to show the weight categories that may lead to health problems but it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. Nonetheless, your BMI is a good indication of whether you are a healthy weight, and if not, how over or underweight you are.
| BMI | Classification |
|---|---|
| Less than 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5 - 24.9 | Normal Weight |
| 25 - 29.9 | Overweight |
| Over 30 | Obese |
Obesity is currently a worldwide problem, with overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) estimated at 35% and 12% of the overall adult population, respectively.
We can assist with weight loss steps by evaluating potential obesity-related diseases; obtaining a weight history, identifying patient triggers and screening for medications that may influence weight gain. Plus, we can evaluate and track weight and height in calculating your body mass index (BMI).
Cholesterol is a soft, waxy fat that body needs to function appropriately. However, too much cholesterol can lead to heart disease, atherosclerosis, or stroke. A cholesterol test can be used to measure the amount of “good” and “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides, a type of fat, in the blood.
A cholesterol test can help determine your risk of the accumulation of plaques in your arteries that can lead to narrowed or blocked arteries throughout your body.
High cholesterol levels often are a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease. Because, high cholesterol usually causes no signs or symptoms, a cholesterol test. is done to determine whether your cholesterol is high and estimate your risk of developing heart attacks and other forms of heart disease and diseases of the blood vessels.
Adults at average risk of developing coronary artery disease should have their cholesterol checked every five years.
More-frequent testing might be needed if your initial test results were abnormal or if you already have coronary artery disease, you are taking cholesterol-lowering medications, or you're at higher risk of coronary artery disease because you:
- Have a family history of high cholesterol or heart attacks.
- Are overweight.
- Are physically inactive.
- Have diabetes.
- Eat an unhealthy diet.
- Smoke cigarettes.
- Are a man older than 45.
- Or a woman older than 55.
Cholesterol control often requires lifestyle changes. Not only can we check your cholesterol, we can also give you advice on making lifestyle changes to get cholesterol to healthy levels and keeping them normal.
Apart from monitoring diet, an active lifestyle can help to lower cholesterol levels and research suggests about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week can help to improve cholesterol levels.
People are being administered adapted booster vaccines. Adapted vaccines are bivalent and contain mRNA based on the spike protein of the ancestral virus, as in the original vaccine, as well as mRNA based on the spike protein of the variant strain. As such they are adapted to better match circulating variants and are expected to give broader protection against different variants, although their impact on future variants is unpredictable
From late 2023 onwards, the HSE has adopting a seasonal approach to COVID vaccines offering COVID booster vaccines in autumn 2023 followed by a spring 2024 campaign.
Cohorts and priorities change frequently, but generally the HSE prioritises older people, those living in long-term care facilities or those aged 5 years and older with immunocompromise associated with a suboptimal response to vaccination.
The emergency contraception service is available free of charge to medical card holders when a valid card is presented and to persons aged 17-35 with a PPS number. For other customers, a fee will be charged, depending on the outcome of the consultation and the type of emergency contraception supplied Emergency Hormonal Contraception may not be suitable if:
Too much time has passed since the unprotected sex for the medicine to be effective (max time is 120 hours) You may be taking other medications or have certain medical conditions that make it unsafe for you to use emergency contraception Allergies to any of the ingredients in the medication You have already taken an emergency contraceptive pill within this cycle. Your last period was irregular in some way
Our pharmacists will determine if the morning after pill is suitable for you. If for any reason the pill is not suitable, there may be further options available. Our pharmacists are trained to be able to direct you to the correct source for help or support. Morning after pills are not 100% effective. This is because there is a chance that you may have already ovulated when you take an emergency contraceptive pill. Taking emergency contraceptive pills as soon as possible after unprotected sex gives the best chance of success. It should be noted that the morning after pill cannot protect against a sexually transmitted infection. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you have any questions about STI’s or visit www.thinkcontraception.ie for more information.
Seasonal flu or influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by flu viruses which circulate in all parts of the world.
Seasonal flu symptoms include a high temperature, a severe (usually dry) cough, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, sore throat, and a runny nose. A person with the flu will also feel extremely unwell.
Most people recover from the symptoms within a week or two without requiring medical attention. But flu can cause severe illness or death especially in people at high risk (see below).
Illnesses range from mild to severe and even death. Hospitalisation and death occur mainly among high risk groups.
The most effective way to prevent the flu is get vaccinated. An annual vaccination is recommended as immunity decreases over time. The flu vaccine can be administered as an injection or using an intra-nasal spray.
While everyone should consider getting a flu vaccine, it is especially important that the following groups get vaccinated:
- Persons aged 65 years and older.
- Persons with a chronic illness requiring regular follow up, e.g. chronic respiratory disease (including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, moderate or severe asthma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia), chronic heart disease (including acute coronary syndrome), chronic renal disease, diabetes mellitus, haemoglobinopathies, chronic liver disease, chronic neurological disease (including multiple sclerosis, hereditary and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system).
- Those who are immunosuppressed due to disease or treatment including those with missing or non-functioning spleens.
- All cancer patients.
- Patients with any condition that can compromise respiratory function, e.g. spinal cord injury, seizure disorder or other neuromuscular disorder.
- Persons with Down syndrome.
- Those with morbid obesity, i.e. body mass index over 40.
- All pregnant women (vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy).
- Healthcare workers.
- Household contacts of at-risk persons.
- Out-of-home care givers to at-risk persons.
- Residents of nursing homes and other long stay institutions.
- Carers.
- People with regular contact with pigs, poultry, or waterfowl.
If you find it difficult to come to the pharmacy to collect your medicines, we are happy to deliver to patients in the locality for free. Please call us if you need to avail of this service and we can organise a delivery time that suits.
The goal of the Health Check programme is to offer a straightforward risk assessment of your general health. It will highlight any risk factors you might have and advice around how you could lessen those risks. Depending on a needs-assessment, your blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and BMI amongst other markers may be checked.
Living a healthy lifestyle and completing a regular health check can improve your health, general well-being and ultimately your life expectancy.
We offer a home delivery services and are especially conscious of our vulnerable patients. Delivery is perfect for patients who have difficulty coming into the store for their medicines due to tight schedules, illness, or other reasons.
Our Medication Usage Review is a pre-booked consultation to discuss your medicines (prescribed and non-prescribed). The review helps increase your knowledge and understanding of your medicines, including how and why the medicines should be taken.
Our aim is to improve outcomes by helping you to better understand your health conditions and the medications used to manage them.
The review also provides an opportunity to highlight any issues, side effects or other medication-related problems and propose solutions if appropriate.
This review can be especially helpful for people who are older, have several chronic conditions, take multiple medications, have been using a specific medication over a longer period or are seen by multiple doctors.
Nutrients are substances that are essential for good health - promoting energy, providing building blocks to form body structures, and helping to regulate body functions.
Protein, carbohydrate, and fat are classified as macronutrients providing energy to fuel the body plus protein is broken down into amino acids to repair and grow new muscle fibres.
Minerals and vitamins are classified as micronutrients and play a key role in the body's structures and functions.
The Irish government and the HSE publish detailed nutritional guidelines comprising a few key points:
- Eat more vegetables, salad, and fruit - Up to seven servings a day.
- Limit your intake of high fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) food and drinks.
- Reduce portion sizes and use the food pyramid as a guide.
- Increase your physical activity.
For many people, following a balanced and healthy diet coupled with exercise, will provide all the nutritional needs of your body.
However, nutritional needs vary with age, activity, and medication - particularly the long-term use of medications.
With age the lean body mass naturally reduces and there is an increase in body fat. This generally results in reduced mobility and subsequent risk of osteoporosis and falls.
It also reduces the metabolic rate causing the body's energy requirements to fall which may in turn may lessen your appetite. The reduced intake of foods may also decrease your micronutrient intake (for example vitamins).
Certain medications are well known for causing side effects such as nausea or drowsiness affecting nutritional intake, but sometimes a lesser known side effect happens without giving you any warning: nutrient deficiency.
Most medications for a short amount of time will not lead to nutrient deficiency.
But long-term use can be different - reducing the absorption of certain vitamins or depleting minerals in the body or even inhibiting the production of important enzymes.
Even commonly used medications like some statins, PPIs (for acid reflux) and diuretics (lower blood pressure) etc taken for long periods can lead to nutrient deficiency.
If you feel any of the above apply to you, we can complete a review of your medications and diet to provide guidance on what nutritional supplements would benefit you.
Using our instant digital photo equipment, we can offer the following professional photo services.
- Passport Photos (Standard & Online)
- Driving License Photos
- PSV License Photos
- American Passports and Other Nationalities
- Taxi License Photo
- Passport Photos for toddlers (2yrs plus) & children
- Garda ID Photos
Taxi License Photos
We print passport-style photographs, each measuring 10cm by 7cm as per taxi driver license requirements, showing your head and shoulders and complying with standards for passport photographs.
Passport Photos (Standard & Online)
We print and check that developed photos meet all requirements of the Irish Passport Office, both for print and online versions.
The delivery of patient care and pharmacy services to patients residing in residential care and nursing homes is a primary patient safety and professional practice issue. As pharmacists, we play an ongoing role in the healthcare team caring for nursing home and residential care patients, particularly in ensuring safe and appropriate supply and management of medicines.
Our SOPs set out the requirements involved in the sale and supply of medicines to patients who are living in residential care settings/nursing homes. Our SOPs adhere to the PSI guidelines which outline several interactions between pharmacies and nursing home / care facilities relating to the importance of prescriptions, mandatory review of prescribed medicines, patient counselling the appropriate delivery of medicines.
Our pharmacists are also available to participate in an interdisciplinary review of each patient on long-term medication. HIQA recommends this is complete at least every three months.
Viagra Connect contains 50mg of the active ingredient sildenafil. Sildenafil relaxes blood vessels to help increase blood flow to the penis helping a man get and maintain an erection. It will not give you an instant erection, requires sexual arousal and can take between 30 minutes to an hour to work.
Viagra Connect is not suitable for men under 18, those who do not have erectile dysfunction, men with specific health issues, men taking certain medications, or women.
Viagra Connect is for men aged 18 or over who have erectile dysfunction symptoms. It’s for men who are fit enough to have sex, but unable to get or maintain an erection hard enough for sexual intercourse. During your consultation, we will check if Viagra Connect is suitable by asking you a few questions related to your health and any medication you may be taking.