BRITISH pharmacy giant Boots is now offering to examine patients' moles, with a new service rolling out at 50 stores across the country after a successful trial last year.
Patients aged 18 and over can access the service for an initial payment of 35 which includes dermatological testing of one mole.
The screening process includes a private 20 minute consultation with a "member of your Boots Pharmacy team" including a short consent form and questionnaire.
The service is being offered in partnership with a company called ScreenCancer UK, with Boots saying it hopes to "raise awareness of melanoma among young people and encourage them to establish a life-long habit of regularly checking their moles".
Patients are asked to identify the mole or pigmented lesion they would like looked at, with the pharmacy staffer then taking a scan using a ScreenCancer SIAscope.
Scanning of additional moles or lesions costs 15 each.
The image is sent electronically to a ScreenCancer dermatology specialist who will analyse it for signs of malignant melanoma, and if the patient is judged to be at risk they will be contacted to discuss the next steps.
Boots pharmacy spokesperson Richard Bradley was quoted by Chemist+Druggist as saying the service was a "fantastic example of how community pharmacists could use their clinical skills to support patients' health in locations and at times that are convenient to them".
Patients wanting to have more than four moles scanned are advised to speak to their GP.
See boots.com/molescanning.
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