Pharmacists in Bromley have secured funding from their local authority to help tackle unnecessary winter deaths among the elderly.

From this week, pharmacies in the area will identify elderly people for whom cold housing has the potential to jeopardise their health, as part of the Department of Health's Cold Weather Plan.

More than 40 pharmacies in Bromley will distribute referral forms to the at-risk group, who will be assessed to determine their eligibility to receive advice and support from Age UK and the London Borough of Bromley's home improvement team.

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	If the individual meets the eligibility criteria – is over 60 and on a means-tested benefit – they could receive financial help with heating bills or improvements to make their home more energy efficient.

Running the service through pharmacy would make it easier to target the most vulnerable, said Kit Tse, chief executive of PharmaBBG, a group of more than 100 contractors across Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich, that bids for and negotiates NHS and council services. Mr Tse led the negotiations with the authority's public health team and said the service was commissioned "there and then" because of pharmacy's potential reach.

"This isn't the first year Bromley has got funding [for the Cold Weather Plan], but they haven't been able to reach out to the vulnerable groups and that's when I got involved in discussions with the commissioner," Mr Tse told C+D.

Mr Tse estimated that each pharmacy would refer 50 people by involving the whole team, including delivery drivers. "For elderly people, the delivery driver could be the only person they meet, so the drivers will be briefed on the service and identifying where people are at risk," he said.

Until March pharmacies will be paid £4 for each referral they make and there will be no cap on maximum numbers they can claim. Bromley's public health team received a grant of £74,817 to implement the Cold Weather Plan from December 2012 to March this year.

Ade Fowler, assistant director of public health in Bromley, said she was keen to get health professionals more involved in the scheme this year and cited pharmacy's reach as a key factor in the commissioning decision.

"It's making use of an already existing opportunity to identify eligible people," she told C+D. "Pharmacists are in a very good position to support vulnerable people."

There are estimated to be 208 excess winter deaths a year in Bromley. In the UK, 80 per cent of excess winter deaths occur in people over the age of 75.

How else could pharmacy be used to support vulnerable elderly people? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook