A pharmacist in Kent has installed a dentist's surgery in his pharmacy, with plans to run combined smoking cessation and healthy living services.

Pharmacy owner Sunil Chopra opened the dental surgery at the Village Pharmacy in Hexstable yesterday (August 21), following an extension that doubled the size of the premises.

The private surgery, which is run by Mr Chopra's daughter, was an opportunity to "think outside the box", enhancing the image of the pharmacy and increasing the services available to the village community, he told C+D.

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	"We've already lost a GP surgery within the village, so the idea was to try and provide further medical services rather than losing the whole lot," he said.

There was a need for a dentist in the area and locating the surgery in the pharmacy meant patients would be able to obtain their medicines quickly, said dentist Shruti Chopra.

There was also the perfect opportunity for the pharmacy and the surgery to offer combined smoking cessation and healthy living clinics, she told C+D.

"There's a lot of overlap. We can share services, expertise [and] use some of the footfall from people coming into the pharmacy to try to start up a new business," she added.

The surgery had received a "fantastic response" from patients on its opening day and would be of "huge benefit" to the community spirit, said Mr Chopra. "It's a huge help to the elderly [and] to the young parents who don't want to travel all the way to the other town to get their teeth done," he said.

The surgery will initially open for two days a week, although this may be extended depending on demand, he added.

Last week, Lincolnshire Co-operative announced that it had offered to move three library services into its pharmacies after the multiple saved a beleaguered library from closure.