During the past decade, there has been much discussion about the role of the community pharmacist in health education. This paper is based upon interviews with a small sample of practising community pharmacists. It reports on their perceptions of the nature of their health education role, the practicalities of implementing this role and the obstacles that need to be overcome.The pharmacists were clear about their health education role as it related to advice on prescribed medicines. However, they were uncertain about other aspects of the health education role. These uncertainties are related to their education in a biomedical and functionalist paradigm together with ethical concerns about interference in the lifestyles of patients. Both these aspects influence the manner in which pharmacists communicate.The paper discusses the need for further advances towards patient orientated pharmacy, which is the essential direction for a health education role.