An in-depth evaluation of healthy living pharmacies (HLPs) across England could make a "real case" for rolling out the scheme on a wider scale, health industry leaders have argued.

Commissioners should take note of the findings, released today (April 22), which suggest that HLPs could improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on GPs, claimed representatives from the Department of Health (DH), PSNC and the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).

Sixty per cent of patients who accessed HLP services would have visited their GP if the pharmacy service was not available, an analysis of 1,034 people visiting HLPs since 2011 revealed. The survey – conducted by the DH, Royal Pharmaceutical Society and NPA – also found that a fifth of respondents would have done nothing about their condition.

"We'll have to make the case [to commissioners], but there's a real case to be made" Richard Parish, RSPH, on the possibility of further HLP commissions	More on healthy living pharmacies HLPs are a 'waste of time', C+D Summit told Terry Maguire: What constitutes an HLP? PSNC: use pharmacy to reduce pressures on GPs
	The evaluation, which looked at 153 HLPs across 14 areas, also found some increased activity and better outcomes in services compared to non-HLPs. All five areas that collected data on smoking cessation found a higher number of people in HLPs set smoking quit dates than in other pharmacies. Quit rates increased in three areas, remained the same in one and decreased in two sites.

The data also showed an increase in alcohol-awareness services after rolling out the HLP programme, and Dudley carried out 280 consultations from April to June 2012, compared to only 55 in the same period the year before.

But there were more mixed results in emergency hormonal contraception provision as the number of consultations increased in three of the six areas collecting data, while two areas showed a decrease. There was also a variation in the three areas collecting data for minor ailments services, as only Sheffield reported a significant increase in the number of consultations made after the HLP rollout.

DH pharmaceutical officer Gul Root said the results should help accelerate the rollout of HLPs across the country, and pledged to work with commissioners on the development of the service.

RSPH chief executive Richard Parish said the evidence should strengthen the case for the HLP programme. The report was "good evidence" of what pharmacies could do, but more research was needed, he said. "We'll have to make the case [to commissioners], but there's a real case to be made," Mr Parish argued.

Community pharmacy should "first and foremost" look to gain support from national body Public Health England, and then secure local commissioning of services, Mr Parish told C+D.

PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe agreed that local commissioning would be vital to the model's success. Although the national contract would recognise HLP services, she stressed local bodies would need to commission the services based on their specific needs.

Paul Edmondson-Jones, director of public health for Portsmouth, backed the comments and warned against a "one-size-fits-all" model. Although the initial rollout of the service in Portsmouth had proven successful, he warned against simply replicating the exact services in other areas. "This has got to be a commissioning framework we can use locally and flexibly," he argued.

Deborah Evans, HLP lead at the NPA, said the organisation would work to gain a balance between national standards and local flexibility. "There's a strong argument for national consistency and quality criteria, but services should be commissioned based on local needs," she told C+D. "I think it's just a question of coming up with that."

There are currently 482 HLPs in England across 20 pathfinder sites.

The evaluation provoked debate on Twitter, as NHS commentator Roy Lilley questioned whether it had put forward a solid business case for HLPs. Mr Lilley branded HLPs a "waste of time" at the C+D Summit earlier this month.

Read the full HLP evaluation here.

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