When Bannerman’s pharmacist George Innes introduced the AAH Pharmaceuticals’ Healthwatch weight management programme into his store two years ago, pharmacy assistant Jenny Reid saw this as an opportunity to engage with her local community and offer an alternative to the ‘quick fix.’

She said that the normal dynamics that existed were not suitable for her customers, public weighings and points systems, and she saw this service as private, discreet and an opportunity to empower her patients to manage their lifestyle with a set of realistic goals.

“People need to be ready to make a lifestyle change,” she said. “What we offer is a personal service. We do not pounce on people but once they have approached us we set out a plan with them.

“We decorated our windows with the posters that AAH supplied us with in the month of January, which of course turned out to be an ideal time, a time when we are either readdressing our goals for the year or in fact realise that we have over indulged over the previous weeks.”

“This enabled us to alert our community to the service and it took off almost immediately.”

Jenny has worked at the Lockerbie branch of Bannerman’s Pharmacy for three years and says that they are entrenched at the heart of their community. Word of mouth has been the biggest endorsement of the weight management service for Bannerman’s as they provide a great product with great service she said.

In addition, Jenny is well aware that it’s important that they do not promise someone who is a size 14 that they will be a size 10 but instead manage their expectations with ongoing consultation and advice, which is bespoke and on a one-to-one basis.

“The first thing that we measure is a patient’s BMI, not their waist. This is vital because they may think that they are overweight but in fact they are not and there is no hard sell here – if they feel it is not right for them we let them make that choice.

“They may be a size 14 because they are tall or very sporty so we tailor the programme to suit their particular needs. We do not send them away with a crash-course diet rather offer lifestyle and wellbeing advice alongside specific dietary requirements.

The ethos that Jenny and the rest of the staff at Bannerman’s instil is that there is no ‘magic pill’. They advise that small positive changes with the right positive attitude can reduce weight and this encompasses diet and exercise.

The pharmacy offers a six-month programme broken into two three month courses. Initially it is quite intense and they will see the patient once every week. At the half way point it is readdressed and if changes need to be made they are implemented.

Jenny said that somewhere in the region of a five per cent reduction in weight is healthy at this stage but is quick to point out that she is also aware of any other health implications at this point. She said: “It's after three months that we focus on inches off the waist rather than weight loss, because this is very much linked to diabetes.

“Increased exercise may result in muscle gain so weight loss isn’t a key indicator for us. We make this clear and so far we have been very successful.”

More than 30 people have been through the pharmacy’s weight management programme of which about 75 per cent have lost significant weight. Jenny says that some people can fall off the wagon but the fact that they have visited the pharmacy and asked about the programme is often the spark that they need to ignite their enthusiasm.

Being at the heart of the community is what really motivates the staff at Bannerman’s. And, Jenny says, being a very close knit community has helped to build trust and loyalty. “If we lost that trust we wouldn’t retain their custom,” she added. “Once they can see that we are offering a good service that is private and meets their needs they are likely to return for further services and advice on a health matters.”

AAH has supported them throughout the programme, making ordering of patient forms and leaflets easy while a dedicated number for enquiries means that they receive a quick turnaround on stock. Christine James, customer communications and marketing manager for AAH said: “Jenny is the perfect example of how a weight management service should be offered.

“It isn’t about making empty promises or guarantees of instant success it’s about maintaining a relationship, monitoring progress and handing out quality lifestyle advice in conjunction with exercise and diet. It is no surprise to me that the success has been so great and loyalty preserved.”