Pharmacy technician Vicky is crossing the shop floor when she hears a polite “excuse me”.

“Oh hello Jo, sorry, I didn’t see you!” says Vicky, turning around. “Are you OK?”

“Not too good actually, and I was hoping you’d be here today for a chat,” replies Jo, who has been a regular, if infrequent, customer of the pharmacy since she moved nearby some 20 years previously.

“Of course, what can I help you with?” enquires Vicky.

“I’ve not been feeling too good,” Jo admits, sadly. “Blowing hot and cold, dropping things, forgetting things, and I feel like I’m barely sleeping. Things are drying up – downstairs and also in the bedroom – and I’m tired and achy.”

“Sorry to hear that, Jo,” responds Vicky. “Have you talked to anyone about it, you know, seen the doctor or anything like that?”

“Well, I think I will,” asserts Jo. “I think it’s the change, you know, the menopause. I am 50 this year, after all. But I’d like a blood test or something so I know that is definitely what it is. That’s possible, isn’t it, with it being hormone-related? I’m sure I saw something online about a new test that can predict when a woman is likely to have her last ever period, which is pretty much the same thing, surely?”