At the very tip of the Ards Peninsula, where the ferry crosses Strangford Lough, you will find Teressa Ritchie, a pharmacy dispenser with 22 years of service and a smile that greets half the town. “We are busy every day,” she laughs. “And I would not have it any other way.”
Teressa did not start in healthcare. After years in a local building firm and then the council, she missed having face to face contact in her work.
A chance conversation and a lifelong friendship with pharmacist Joanne from their school days brought her home to pharmacy. Back then the team worked from a tiny shop on the square.
Today, they are in a spacious High Street premises only 100 yards from the GP surgery.
The move reflects the growth of the service. “Years ago we might have dispensed 80 items in a day. Now it is 500 and more.” A typical morning starts with a trip to the surgery for prescriptions, repeated many times as the day moves on. Scanning, labelling, dispensing and ordering stock roll into one continuous rhythm. That rhythm pauses for patients who need support through Pharmacy First. “It is amazing for our community,” Teressa says :I’d love to see even more added to it because it reduces pressure on the doctors and helps people sooner.”
Her favourite task is one many patients never see, preparing weekly pill boxes.
“We have about 120 patients on them,” she explains. “This is a very process driven and precise task that I enjoy, and get real satisfaction seeing them stacked and ready for checking. For older people, or anyone with a care package, they are a lifeline.“
Working in a rural town means bonds run deep. Teressa speaks about regular patients
with real affection and the quiet moments of crisis that pharmacy helps to steady.
“We are lucky the doctors and nurses are only across the road. It is a little ecosystem, all of us looking out for the same people.“
What makes a great dispenser? “A quick mind, attention to detail and a willingness to check
and then check again,” she says. “You need to be computer literate, hard working and able to decipher the occasional difficult piece of handwriting!” Looking ahead, she sees electronic
prescribing as a time saver that would free the team for more patient care.
Outside work, Teressa enjoys jiving to country music with her husband and is already looking forward to a trip to Nashville next year. She is very hands on with her granddaughter and loves spending time gardening with her mum.
Her advice to newcomers is simple and honest. “Be prepared for hard work. Quiet half hours are a gift. But if you love people, you will go home at 6pm with real satisfaction.”