Headford News and Community Spotlight - Feeling Better

Good news! The date has been set for Headfest 2014. Our community festival will take place this year from Friday August 22nd to Sunday August 24th. The event is in the early planning stages so anyone who'd like to be involved in any way is encouraged to attend the next meeting at Cloughanover on Wednesday, 30th April at 9 pm. If you'd like to send an email, the address is headfest@gmail.com. Show the Love(fest), Headford! 


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT  

Feeling Better 
Anyone who’s walked into Flanagan’s Pharmacy has probably noticed the dark-haired, soft-spoken man behind the high counter. If you’ve been in there, you may be sure he’s noticed you. For over ten years, Jarlath Phillips has been one of Headford’s community pharmacists. Back in 2003, he bought the pharmacy, and then the building. The Health Shop next door used to be the Mayo Bar, but now sells everything from tinned beans to scented soap.

When I ask Jarlath why he became a pharmacist, he says he always liked science, but he also likes meeting people. ‘I enjoy the interaction,’ he says. ‘I’m definitely not a lab or hospital type person. This [pharmacy] was a more appealing route.’

Back when Jarlath decided to become a pharmacist, he had to go out of the country to study. ‘Because,’ he says, ‘back then it was Trinity or die.’ And there weren’t very many available openings at Trinity, so after studying science at NUIG, he went to Liverpool to get his pharmacy degree. Now, there are three colleges in this country where those who want to can get pharmacy degrees. 

His early career was spent in the U.K. too. ‘I liked the unique situations,’ he says. In seven years there, he saw some drug abuse issues, but also did some compounding against prescriptions, as well as monitoring medications, counselling customers on drug use, and the usual duties of a pharmacist.

Jarlath Phillips of Flanagan's Pharmacy

The toughest thing about his job here is that pharmacy is ‘a very regulated sector,’ especially since 2007. Most of us remember the heated debates that hit the news seven years ago when everything changed in the Irish pharmaceutical world. According to the Pharmaceutical periodical, Counter Intelligence, ‘The Pharmacy Act of 2007 signalled a new era for Irish pharmacy. Up to this point, pharmacy in Ireland was governed by a variety of acts and regulations dating from 1875. The 2007 Act became the one document governing the profession.’ And with it came a lot of time-consuming criteria that has to be met. ‘It involves a lot of box-ticking,’ Jarlath says, ‘and working evenings and weekends, coming in early, staying late.’ It also involves keeping books scrupulously up-to-date with revenue.

Jarlath says, in his line of work, ‘sometimes you just have to be a listening ear for somebody, maybe after a bereavement or a personal tragedy.’ Yet, at the same time, he confides that trying to spend time with everyone is one of the most challenging aspects of his job. He also sees himself as the middle man, so to speak, between the patient and their G.P. ‘When you know the patient,’ he says, ‘the G.P. is the point of contact. In that case, I might be the bridge between the two.'

As a pharmacist, Jarlath seems keenly observant, intuitive almost. He admits he notices physical things, behaviour, and of course he’s aware of prescriptions and watchful for reactions. ‘Sometimes, you just know what’s going on,’ he says. If he knows someone’s personal situation, and is aware they are in trouble, he might discuss different non-drug related treatment options with their G.P. The personal attention he gives is far from the anonymous dispensing of drugs that would happen in a large city. ‘That’s the luxury of being a small town pharmacist,’ he says.

Although, coming to work on a Sunday doesn’t seem like much of a ‘luxury.’ Flanagan’s alternates with Ryder’s Pharmacy so that one or the other of them is open each Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It’s important, Jarlath says because, ‘Often, on the weekends, you might be the only point of contact for somebody.’

Pharmacy has become a family affair for Jarlath, who met his wife, Clodagh, in college. Clodagh works at their other shop, Flanagan’s on Shop Street in Galway. They now have one son and two daughters and swap working every other Saturday so they can each spend time with the kids.

When I ask Jarlath if there’s anything he’d like people to know, he says, ‘If someone wants to talk to me and I’m busy, they should always try to ring back later.'

‘So, do you ever get time off?’ I ask.

He flashes a shy smile and nods. When he responds it’s in that same, subdued voice he uses with customers. ‘When you help people out, it’s rewarding. You feel better going home.'