The health and beauty giant this week (September 10) launched a campaign to encourage the public to “visit their local Boots pharmacy for convenient access to diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of common conditions”.
“You’re never too far from a Boots pharmacist”, the campaign said, urging adults to visit a pharmacy if they feel ill in the back-to-school season, rather than viewing GPs as “their first port of call”.
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As part of the effort to highlight services offered by the retailer, “a Boots pharmacist is swapping the high street for the school run as a ‘lollipop pharmacist’ for a day”, it said.
Pharmacist Sanjay Nathwani “will engage with parents and children at the school gates at a primary school in London to help them cross the road safely, while sharing healthcare advice and support including tips on staying well this autumn and how pharmacists can help when they do feel under the weather”, it added.
Boots highlighted that many people feel “a burden to GPs” and “may put their health on hold” because of this.
But it stressed that pharmacists “can advise on, diagnose and treat a range of common health conditions”, calling on the public “to turn to its pharmacists for quick and convenient healthcare support and treatment”.
It comes as pharmacies have been tasked with promoting the Pharmacy First service to the public as their first national campaign topic under this year’s contract, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) last week announced.
“Think pharmacist first”
Boots reminded the public that pharmacies in England can offer patients access to prescription treatment for seven common conditions under the Pharmacy First service.
Boots deputy superintendent pharmacist Aimi Dickinson said that the retailer wants “to encourage people to think ‘pharmacist first’ for common health conditions to enable them to get the healthcare support they need as quickly as possible”.
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“Access to healthcare on the high street is an important part of the NHS 10-year plan and there’s already a huge amount of support available at community pharmacies like Boots,” she added.
And Nathwani said that “popping up in my community as an iconic lollipop person has been a fantastic opportunity to remind people that pharmacists are never too far away and can help”.
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Boots last month announced the launch of 13 new at-home testing kits, allowing patients to test for a range of health conditions “without needing to see a GP”.
And the health and beauty giant last month revealed that it is now operating as a “private standalone company” following the successful acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) by private equity firm Sycamore.
Meanwhile, data obtained by C+D via a freedom of information (FOI) request earlier this year revealed that Pharmacy First consultations delivered after a general practice referral have noticeably decreased since the service was launched in January 2024.
