Coeliac Awareness Week 2013

This week is Coeliac UK Awareness Week 2013 and we are taking part in the campaign to try to identity some of  the half a million people in the UK with undiagnosed coeliac disease.

What is it?

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease caused by an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye, so is found in cereals, bread and pasta.

The symptoms of coeliac disease vary from person to person, and can be mild or severe, which can make it difficult to diagnose but can include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, tiredness and a general feeling of being "not right".

Come in and talk to us if you are worried about your symptoms and we can help you decide what to do next.

What can be done about it?
If you suffer from the symptoms you can ask your GP for a simple blood test to check for antibodies associated with coeliac disease. Your GP will refer you for further investigation to confirm diagnosis.

After diagnosis
Once diagnosed, coeliac disease is treated with a gluten-free diet for life. Taking gluten out of your diet allows your gut to heal and your symptoms to improve. Companies like Glutafin and Juvela make a wide range of gluten free products and some of them are available on prescription.

Coeliac UK have loads of information and advice to help people with coeliac disease.

Just an ordinary morning.......

I spend a lot of time thinking about what to blog about and consequently don't often sit down and write about what is really happening at work. Ellen over at Blogging Works suggested just going for it and telling you about my day. I reckon I could do that in my lunch break.

Arrive at work feeling like I've done a full day's wrangling getting two small boys who have been up since 6am to nursery.

Hazel - our super accuracy-checking pharmacy technician is already in and has sorted out the mess we left last night, checked the remaining prescriptions so we are ready for the day ahead. We have a quick chat and decide on a plan for the day and delegate tasks to the Megan and Sandra when they arrive for work.

As it is the first of the month, we need to get all of April's prescriptions ready to be sent off for pricing. Hazel makes a start on this. It is great to have staff you can trust with this sort of job. After all prescription pricing is where the vast majority of our income comes from.
First job: Chase up warfain results from the local surgery. There are some dosette boxes for elderly patients which need finishing to go out for delivery today.
Prescriptions from the early surgery start to arrive at the same time as our three wholesaler deliveries. The first order has two wrong items in it, so we phone to chase and correct them to ensure the right stock comes in later on today.

I speak to a patient on the phone about her neuropathic pain and advise her how best to take her painkillers.

There are three patients waiting to speak to me:

1. A lady worried about her mum's mouth ulcer. On further discussion, she has lost weight and is really not very well. I send her on to the GP.
2. A man with a sore eye (the second of the day so far). Looks like a meibomiam cyst. Self care advice.
3. A lady with a sore knee. I think it sounds like a tendon issue and give advice for immediate pain relief and refer on to the physio for further investigation.
   I must remember to record these consultations under the Minor Ailments Service.

Time for a quick coffee (thanks Hazel). The phone goes again and i try to negotiate a better deal for our electricity.

First appointment for our weight loss service. This lady is really motivated and keen to get started on Lipotrim.

Another quick phone call to the surgery to get an alternative for a cream which has been unavailable for a while. These supply problems really are taking up more and more time.

I speak to a lady asking about Souvenaid for her mum. It turns out she works for Alzheimer's Scotland and we have a great chat about her work and what pharmacy could be doing more of for dementia patients.

Check the orders and send them for this afternoons delivery. Time to make sure all the staff have their lunches. Megan has been busy setting up May's retail promotions. They are looking great! Sandra has finished all the balances and we can start to label the next batch of surgery prescriptions that Willie has dropped off. I check he has everything he needs for his deliveries before grabbing my lunch.
Time for 30 minutes to recharge. Sushi is so tasty and I can probably squeze in time to write a blog. I fight with the internet connection! Blog done.

Now, what will this afternoon have in store?