24
LIVING
Proposed pharmacy
screening services
Report calls for pharmacy-led national diabetes
screening service, with the potential to save the NHS
£50m each year.
A
Company Chemists' Association (CCA*) report,
Increasing Access to Diabetes Screening and
Prevention Through Community Pharmacy,
highlights the need to create a clear national
patient pathway for diabetes detection and prevention.
The report highlights how an NHS-commissioned
Type 2 diabetes screening service undertaken by
community pharmacies across England would allow
community pharmacies to deliver the following benefits
each year:
• screen 1.5m adults annually and identify 180,000 people
with prediabetes
• identify 45,000 undiagnosed people with diabetes with
a view to preventing them from developing serious
complications that would require specialised care
• prevent an estimated 7,000 heart attacks and strokes
• prevent nearly 15,000 people developing severe-sight
loss over the course of their lifetime
• reduce the financial toll that diabetes takes on the NHS
by saving the NHS an estimated £50m in recurring costs
each year.
Type 2 Diabetes and its complications account for a tenth
of the NHS annual budget. By 2035/36 this is projected
to grow to 17%. Currently around 4m people have been
diagnosed with diabetes across the UK. An additional
2m people are at high risk of developing the condition.
Furthermore, diabetes creates an enormous economic
toll on society through the loss of productivity and
diabetes-related disability, costing the UK more than
£20bn annually.
Economic burden
There are significant barriers to early detection and
prevention. These include long waits to secure a
GP appointment and patients having to travel long
distances to see an appropriate healthcare professional,
preventing them from receiving timely and appropriate
care. As many as 25m GP appointments every year are
estimated to be dedicated to the management of Type 2
Diabetes, equivalent to an entire month's worth of
GP appointments.
Access issues are particularly prevalent in more
deprived communities, where the economic burden of
travelling long distances for a GP appointment or work
commitments may deter people from seeking advice
and care.
The CCA is now urging NHS England to:
1. Commission a national diabetes screening service to
identify and aid people either with, or at risk of, Type 2
Diabetes.
2. Support and improve IT communications between
pharmacies and GP surgeries so that test results can
be shared seamlessly.
3. Develop patient pathways to provide newly diagnosed
diabetics with easily accessible treatment through
community pharmacy.