THE TEAM at a pharmacy in Dursley is celebrating achieving a special accreditation which will allow them to provide a broader range of services.

Now that the Boots store on Parsonage Street has achieved Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) accreditation, the staff can now give expert advice to help people change their lifestyles and improve their health and wellbeing.

Pharmacist Mark Telford, said the team were proud of their achievement.

“This award demonstrates how important the health and wellbeing of our community is to us, and has provided our team with a new focus and enthusiasm,” he said.

“We can provide people with expert advice and put them in touch with services that can help them be healthier, such as help to stop smoking or lose weight.

“There’s no appointment system, so it’s really easy for people to come and have a chat.”

As well as the endorsement, one of the team is now a Healthy Living Champion - an in-store expert on finding healthy lifestyle information and local services.

To be awarded the HLP status, the Dursley pharmacy had to demonstrate and apply a healthy living ethos throughout its daily practice.

It now provides advice on a range of lifestyle related health issues, including quitting smoking, reducing alcohol intake, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, emergency contraception, managing a health condition and sexual health concerns.

Boots Pharmacy in Dursley is one of eight pharmacies in Gloucestershire to be granted the quality mark, which it received at a celebratory event in January.

It is set to be joined over the next year by a further 45 pharmacies across the county.

The programme is being driven by Gloucestershire County Council Public Health and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, in partnership with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee and NHS England.

Chairwoman of the commissioning group, Dr Helen Miller, said the new status demonstrated the value that pharmacists add to local healthcare provision.

“I would like to congratulate Boots Pharmacy in Dursley on achieving the HLP quality mark and for the changes they are helping to deliver," she said.