Lloyds Pharmacy officially opened its first "well-being centre" at its pharmacy at Sandy, Bedfordshire, on May 5. The spacious 2,400 sq ft branch has been designed to focus on health related products and services as well as providing customers with advice on lifestyle, general health care and welfare issues. It will be staffed by two full-time pharmacists, one of whom will not be involved in dispensing but will focus on giving advice and providing specialist services.
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The pharmacy includes a CHAT (Community and local Healthcare, social and welfare Advice provided by Trained professional advisors) centre |
While retaining a dispensary and over-the-counter medicine displays, the well-being centre also incorporates features such as an instore CHAT (Community and local Healthcare, social and welfare Advice provided by Trained professional advisors) centre and sections for complementary medicines such as aromatherapy, watertherapy, reflexology and homoeopathy. Diagnostic equipment, such as blood glucose meters, is also displayed.
"We are looking at the whole concept of health and well being, rather than just treating people who are ill," explained Mr Chris Frost (regional pharmacy manager, Lloyds). He said: "As a result, two-thirds of the products in this store are new to Lloyds. Even the range of pharmacy medicines has been expanded."
Reinforcing the health care message, new ranges of specialist vitamins and gluten-free foods have replaced toiletries, nappies, cosmetics and gift items. The latter are available at a more traditional Lloyds Pharmacy next door.
Renting out the fully fitted treatment room to district nurses, chiropodists or homoeopaths is one option the well-being centre's pharmacy manager (Mr Russell Foulsham) is considering. Other ideas include pharmacist run special clinics, such as asthma clinics or anticoagulant testing.
Intouch, a touchscreen heath information system specially adapted for Lloyds Pharmacy, is another component. The system, which has also been used by Superdrug, allows customers to search for information on more than 1,600 topics, watch demonstration videos, such as on how to do a breast check, and print out information.
Several components of the well-being centre have been introduced to other Lloyds pharmacies, such as the CHAT centre or healthy heart checks, but this is the first time all the ideas have come together.
"This is a test store. We are saying: ‘This is the concept, let's put it in place in a location and have pharmacists and staff who want to make it work.' It may not all be right, but we will put it in place and make it work," Mr Stokes told The Journal after the official opening.
He acknowledged that the approach to staffing, recruitment and training for the store was special. In addition to the two pharmacists, the front of the store was run by a manager with a retailing background. The company also made a point of recruiting staff with special interests and skills. On top of a general knowledge of the whole store, staff have each been trained to become specialists in one particular area.
Mr Stokes is convinced that this approach is the way forward for pharmacy.
"This is the way pharmacy and the pharmacist can evolve and establish a clear role in the community which is different from the role of a doctor or a nurse and is not just about dispensing".
Lloyds intends to take its time in assessing the results from the Sandy project carefully.
"One thing we have to do is not to jump to conclusions too early. There is no point doing something we could never replicate in other locations because otherwise we are just fooling ourselves," Mr Stokes said. He did, however, venture to declare that "hopefully we will be rolling out something similar or aspects of it, either across the whole chain or in other locations."