With chest pains though, apparently a lot of women don't realise...

With chest pains though, apparently a lot of women don't realise they are having a heart attack because the symptoms are so vague (not the crushing pain in the chest that men typically get). I would probably find myself in a dilemma if I was just having tingly pains in my arm, wondering if I had overdone it in the garden. Maybe it could be something worse - but I'm going to look a right twit presenting at hospital with "suspected heart attack" when in fact it turns out I've just overdone it in the garden... in that case I would seriously consider getting a quick blood test done at the pharmacy to put my mind at rest and if it turned out I was having heart attack signs, that test could be a lifesaver.

Having routine blood tests done quickly and cheaply at the pharmacy, yes convenient maybe and would take pressure off doctors/specialists as you wouldn't need those appointments first. But I think you would have to be registered with the pharmacy in some way, with your doctor pre-authorising you being given these results there (preferably in a consulting room within the pharmacy, not on the shop floor). My husband's white cell count is stable at the moment, has been for years. Not sure we want to be stood on the shop floor looking at (unexpectedly) sky-high results. Given the choice, I'd actually prefer to be able to buy a device for home use, so that we could monitor things ourselves, like diabetics do, with results being uploaded to our GP.