An HLP is a pharmacy that has a team that puts their community's health and wellbeing at the core of what they do. They consistently deliver a range of services to a high quality and are recognised with an HLP Quality Mark (pictured above). All HLPs have at least one Health Champion (or Healthy Living Champion) €“ usually a member of the medicines counter team €“ who proactively engages with the public and creates a health-promoting environment.

The pharmacist or pharmacy manager will also have undertaken leadership and change management development to support a team approach and lead a supply-plusservice delivery model. To achieve the HLP Quality Mark, a pharmacy must demonstrate that it:

• Consistently delivers a range of health and wellbeing services to a high quality, meeting the local commissioner's productivity requirements, such as number of stop smoking quits at four weeks, alcohol interactions, chlamydia screens, etc
• Meets the HLP Quality Criteria requirements
• Has a team that proactively promotes health and wellbeing, proactively offers brief advice on a range of issues such as smoking, physical activity, sexual health, healthy eating, alcohol and harm reduction, and signposts to relevant local and/or national support
• Has at least one trained Health Champion who has achieved the Royal Society for Public Health's Understanding Health Improvement Level 2 Award
• Promotes health and wellbeing messages and delivers commissioned services by creating a health-promoting environment with premises fit for purpose
• Proactively engages with the local community, usually through outreach activities, and with other health and social care providers and professionals
• Displays the HLP logo.

While the HLP concept helps to drive outputs and quality improvements, it is not a tickbox exercise. How a pharmacy implements and achieves its HLP status is as important as what it has achieved. Getting the HLP Quality Mark is much more than reaching a standard, although demonstrating to commissioners, other providers and the public that a pharmacy has achieved certain criteria is important. An HLP feels different €“ the team has the community's health at the centre of what it does.