The Island Pharmacy Service who provided  ’Sex, Drugs And Rock ‘N’ Roll’ came 2nd in the prestigious 2009 NHS Alliance Acorn Awards.

The winning team pictured from left to right: Kate Suitor, Blood Bourne Virus Nurse, Heather Lovell, Head of Public Health Strategy and Partnerships, NHS Isle of Wight, Kevin Noble, Community Pharmacy Lead, NHS Isle of Wight, Elaine Baxendale, Deputy Manager, Island Drug & Alcohol Service,  Sarah Stringer, Health Improvement Services Manager, NHS Isle of Wight,  Gary Warner, Community Pharmacist, Regent Street, Shanklin.

A service designed around the health needs of young people on the Isle of Wight  received recognition at the prestigious 2009 NHS Alliance Acorn Awards.

The Acorn Awards celebrates excellence in primary care and the efforts made by health professionals to improve the services they provide to their patients.  ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll came 2nd in the category ‘Pharmaceutical Services Commissioning’, which is a new category introduced this year to showcase Primary Care Trusts which are excelling at commissioning of pharmaceutical services.

Kevin Noble, Community Pharmacy Lead for the Island’s NHS said:

“We are delighted to have received this award. It is a real honour to receive such a prestigious national award, and it is fantastic that the excellent service that Pharmacists continue to provide on the Island has been recognised.”

Community Pharmacists work alongside the Island’s NHS Sexual Health Services and Island Drug and Alcohol Service (IDAS) in offering a range of services for people between the ages of 15 and 25, which are completely confidential and easily accessible.

The entry ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll’ highlights the services that Pharmacists across the Island, in collaboration with sexual health services and IDAS, offer to patients wishing to access emergency contraception, Chlamydia screening, counselling and treatment and, more recently, Hepatitis B and C dry blood spot testing to at risk patients. Injecting drug users who are identified as significantly at risk of contracting Hepatitis B have also been offered vaccinations to protect against infection as part of the integrated service.

Kevin Noble continued:

“Pharmacists are highly skilled healthcare professionals who can offer confidential, timely advice and treatment at a convenient location. Due to the success of these services we are now looking for other opportunities to make better use of Pharmacists on the Island. “

A recent example of this has been the introduction of an integrated seasonal influenza vaccination campaign that has included many community Pharmacies across the Island. The service enables accredited Pharmacists to offer seasonal influenza vaccination to at risk patients unable to attend flu vaccination clinics held at their GP Practice.

Commenting on this year’s Acorn Award winners, Michael Sobanja, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, said:

“The NHS is an incredible organisation that achieves much more than it is given credit for; it is also a hard taskmaster. That’s why the Acorn Awards are so important. They recognise excellence in health improvement and health care as judged by the toughest audience of all – colleagues who work at the front line themselves. This year’s entries were of the highest standard to date and we would like to express our admiration and congratulations to all of the entrants, in particular, the winners and runners up. There is no greater accolade than that given by peers to worthy entrants across the country.”