Boots launches new coronary heart disease service
Pharmacists will set and agree goals for patients with CHD to achieve |
A new service that aims to improve concordance and patient care for people with coronary heart disease was launched this week by Boots The Chemists.
Speaking to The Journal at the BPC, Stephen Pemberton, regional professional
development manager for Boots in north west England, said that initially
the service will be provided as a pilot in three branches of Boots in
Middleton, Rochdale and Stockport. “The service is called ‘Know
your heart’ and it is aimed at people with an existing diagnosis
of CHD,” he explained.
Pharmacists will gather information about the patient’s medical
history through a consultation with the patient. They will ask about
any problems patients have had with their medicines, find out about compliance
and also ask about lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet and exercise.
The pharmacist will then carry out a number of point-of-care tests — blood
pressure, cholesterol level, blood glucose level and body mass index.
The patient and pharmacist then identify and agree some goals for the
patient to achieve over the next six to nine months. The patient’s
general practitioner will be informed of the test results and will also
be asked for input in relation to the goals. If any problems with the
patient’s medicines are identified then the pharmacist would suggest
appropriate changes to the doctor at this stage. “Medicines are
at the heart of this project,” added Mr Pemberton. Once the goals
have been set, the pharmacist will contact patients on a monthly basis
to review their progress and remind them to request repeat prescriptions.
The service is available all the time, not on an appointment basis. “This
open access is a strength of community pharmacy,” said Mr Pemberton.
The project has the backing of the local primary care trust. Although
the pilot service is available to patients free of charge, Boots has
not ruled out charging patients, or approaching PCTs for funding, if
it is expanded to other locations in the future. |
