A new initiative offering cholesterol-lowering injections at community pharmacies is now underway in East London, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has announced.
The BHF said today that the pilot - run by Barts Health NHS Trust and UCLPartners, with funding from the charity - allows people living with high cholesterol to avoid months-long hospital waiting times by receiving their twice-yearly inclisiran jab at a local pharmacy.
Barts Health NHS Trust first announced the pilot last November, and confirmed to C+D that the service is now live in participating pharmacies.
Read more: NHS trust pilots ‘cholesterol-lowering’ injections in pharmacies
“This means the governance, digital links and clinical pathways are now in place to deliver integrated cardiovascular care closer to patients’ homes,” it said.
The BHF said the first three community pharmacies taking part in the scheme are Anjis Dispensing Chemist in Waltham Forest and Rohpharm Pharmacy’s Ilford and Plaistow branches.
Barts Health NHS Trust told C+D that the pharmacies “are remunerated for delivering cholesterol point-of-care testing and administering inclisiran” but did not disclose the fees.
Read more: ‘Historic’: Pharmacies to offer free cholesterol checkups from autumn
The BHF added that “further pharmacies will be joining soon”, and that more than 180 people with high cholesterol “will be referred to their local pharmacy for treatment over a 14-month period”.
The initiative is part of the Barts Health team’s wider program of work testing new ways to prevent heart disease across East London, and follows the trust piloting a cholesterol point-of-care testing service in North East London pharmacies last year.
“Healthcare innovation in practice”
Barts Heart Centre consultant cardiologist Professor Riyaz Patel, who is leading the pilot, said the patients taking part are “in great need of more cholesterol-lowering therapy, beyond tablets, to reduce their risk of future problems”, but “often find it difficult to attend hospital appointments to receive these advanced treatments”.
He added that by “bringing care closer to home” through local pharmacies, “we can reach people faster, reduce waiting times, free up hospital appointments and address inequalities in access to cardiovascular care”.
Read more: Pharmacist calls can help lower ‘bad’ cholesterol, study finds
And UCLPartners chief executive officer Chris Laing said that “bringing inclisiran into community pharmacies is a great example of health innovation working in practice”.
“By working with our partners to adopt and test new approaches in real clinical settings, we build the evidence and experience needed to help make effective treatments available to patients closer to home.”
Read more: London pharmacy cholesterol testing pilot ‘highly valuable’
It comes after NHS England (NHSE) announced that “around 100” community pharmacies in England will offer cholesterol checkups from this autumn as part of a drive “to reduce heart disease and stroke deaths by a quarter over the next decade”.
NHSE said in August that the pilot, which will run until spring 2027, will be available to those aged between 40 and 84 who are not pregnant and have not had a blood test in the past year.
