Boots opens health and fitness centre
Boots The Chemists opened its first Wellbeing centre
at the Westway Cross retail park in Greenford, Middlesex, this week. The
centre combines health and beauty treatment services with fitness facilities.
Travel vaccinations, homoeopathy, herbalism, osteopathy,
aromatherapy, physiotherapy and chiropody are some of the health services
offered by the centre. Robert Bussandri, manager of the adjacent branch
of Boots, said that the centre offered great advantages for customers.
“As well as advice, the pharmacy provides, customers sometimes need further
help from other health professionals, for example, from a physiotherapist
for a muscle strain. Having all the health professionals in the Wellbeing
centre means that we can provide a much fuller service,” he said.
The centre’s travel vaccination clinic is being
run by nurses in association with MASTA (Medical Advisory Services for
Travellers Abroad). Angela Graham, business development manager, explained
that the service includes a 45-minute consultation in which a health brief
specific for the patient is generated using a MASTA internet-based program.
The price is £15 plus the cost of any vaccinations given. Although pharmacists
are not directly involved in the travel clinic at the moment, this was
something that could be explored in the future, she said.
The centre’s homoeopath is a general practitioner
who is a member of the Faculty of Homoeopathy. Boots is offering pharmacists
working in the adjacent Boots store the opportunity to train to become
licentiate members of the faculty. Ms Graham explained that this will
allow them to recommend homoeopathic treatments for ailments such as hay
fever and influenza but not to manage more chronic conditions.
Krishna Ramamurthy, a member of the National Institute
of Medical Herbalists, said that he will be offering consultations that
include general lifestyle advice in addition to advice on herbal medicines.
He is also able to prepare herbal products, most commonly tinctures, in
an on-site herbal dispensary.
The fitness facilities at the centre include a gym,
swimming pool, exercise studios, sauna and spa. The centre also has a
hairdressing salon, café and crèche. The centre operates an appointment
system for all of its health professionals but customers can consult on
a “pop-in” basis if the professional is available.
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