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As part of community service in our pharmacies we provide advice, help and support on the importance of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. This has been especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic as many of our customers are understandably even more concerned about their immune health and how they can help boost their immunity during this time in order to protect themselves as far as possible. We help them understand the relevance of good nutrition, the importance doing exercise (where possible), and how they can take steps to reduce risk over these worrying times. For example, through our pharmacy services, we offer the flu jab to customers and support the NHS in administering the jab, for which demand has been greatly increased this year as people look to protect their immune system from flu (which for some - can prove fatal). By protecting from illness, our body's immune system can remain stronger, as is not distracted into fighting illnesses that could have been prevented.

Community pharmacists are readily accessible healthcare providers and medicine experts in the community setting and their counsel is often sought by patients and consumers on a number of subjects including the use of dietary supplements. Their role in the sale of and advice regarding natural health and drug alternatives has never been more relevant. The recent National Health Service (NHS) Interim People Plan calls for the NHS to put all staff front and centre of the way it operates and identifies pharmacists as a critical part of multidisciplinary teams, providing care across a wide range of increasingly complex patient needs. Despite existing demand to counsel patients on a vast range of medicines, more and more consumers are looking to their pharmacist to support and enhance their knowledge regarding the relevance of a growing range of supplementary nutrients now available. Nutritional supplementation is increasingly becoming the consumer's first choice for 'drug free' treatment or natural prevention that provides a true sense of taking control, which the prescription process often denies them. The vast and growing depository of information on the internet is certainly fuelling this, but as much of this is brand derived content, information, it can often be generic with a 'one size fits all' marketing message.