Boots has announced the launch of a pilot “private weight loss treatment service” to offer customers “in-person advice and treatment” on the high street.
Available in 17 stores across the UK, the service will “include an appointment in a private consultation room” with a pharmacist independent prescriber who has had “specialist training” to prescribe weight loss medicines, it said today.
An initial consultation will see a pharmacist ask questions about the patient’s medical history as well as checking their weight, height and BMI to see whether they are eligible for the treatment, Boots explained.
If customers meet the eligibility criteria, the pharmacist can then provide them with “access to treatment”, it added.
Read more: New obesity and diabetes drug to be trialled at Boots stores
According to Boots, this new service “bolsters the existing weight loss support and expertise offered by Boots digitally through Boots Online Doctor”.
The in-store pilot offers the “same treatment support” as the online doctor “at the same standards prices per dose”, it said.
And it added that the service can be accessed by booking online or “on a walk-in basis” at participating stores, depending on pharmacist independent prescriber availability.
“Convenient care”
Boots chief healthcare officer Jamie Kerruish said that “the launch of our in-store weight loss treatment service alongside our digital offer delivered through Boots Online Doctor means we can now deliver convenient care to people both online or in person”.
“Our weight loss treatment services are for anyone whose lives are affected by obesity,” he said, adding that Boots is there for “every step” of a customer’s “weight loss journey”.
Read more: Boots launches year-long weight loss jab withdrawal service
It comes after the health and beauty giant announced in October that it was launching a “free 12-month support programme” to help patients coming off weight loss treatments “maintain” their results.
The “first of its kind” from a UK online healthcare provider, the service is available to customers who have “used the Boots Online Doctor weight loss treatment service for at least six consecutive months”, it said at the time.
And it added that the “aftercare programme” is designed to “help people maintain their weight loss results” after they complete treatment and comes into effect “two months after [patients’] final month of treatment”.
Read more: NICE: Monitor patients for ‘at least a year’ after stopping weight loss jabs
The stores taking part in the pilot are:
- Boots Nottingham Victoria Centre
- Boots Cardiff Queen Street
- Boots Durham Market Place
- Boots Belfast Donegal Place
- Boots Edinburgh Princes Street
- Boots Newcastle Sidgate
- Boots St Albans St Peters Street
- Boots London Liverpool Steet Station
- Boots Leicester Fosse Park
- Boots Brighton North Street
- Boots London Piccadilly Circus
- Boots Dartford Blue Water
- Boots Altrincham Stamford Quarter
- Boots Chester Le Street
- Boots Middlesborough Nunthorpe
- Boots Bath Southgate Centre
- Boots Lisburn Sprucefield
