A project to improve inhaler technique through MURs found a 40 per cent increase in the number of asthma patients achieving good control and a fall in local hospital admissions for respiratory disease.

The project, delivered in 206 pharmacies across nine PCTs in south east England between April 2011 and August 2012, saw pharmacists carry out more than 5,100 MURs and 800 follow-up MURs – resulting in 4,600 asthma control tests and 448 COPD assessments. Participating pharmacists were trained in the effective use of inhalers and incorporating this into MURs.

"We will certainly be highlighting these findings as we continue to push to develop community pharmacy's role in the reformed NHS" Alastair Buxton, PSNC

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Analysis of the scheme found that the number of MURs provided by pharmacies increased during the project, with 40 per cent of asthma patients showing better control and 55 per cent of COPD patients showing an improvement in symptom management. There was also evidence of improved asthma control between MURs, with a 40 per cent increase in the number of asthma patients achieving good control, and COPD scores demonstrating the disease was having a less severe impact on patients' lives. The analysis also found a "positive association" between the scheme and emergency hospital admissions.

Respiratory illnesses are one of the three MUR target groups and PCT project leads reported that pharmacists' clinical knowledge had been improved, along with their interactions with their patients and their ability to deliver MURs.

Gary Warner, chair of the PSNC service development subcommittee and contractor at Regent Pharmacy on the Isle of Wight, said the outcomes had helped change local GPs' attitudes to the advanced service. "[It] says a great deal about what evidence can do. Improvements in patient outcomes that are statistically significant are always a pleasure to see because they give irrefutable proof of the benefits of services."

PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton praised the study as a "great example of pharmacy interventions delivering real patient benefits."

"We will certainly be highlighting these findings as we continue to push to develop community pharmacy's role in the reformed NHS," Mr Buxton added.

Asthma UK assistant director of policy and service development Simon Selo said: "We hope these experiences and learning will be widely disseminated across primary and secondary care so that more people with asthma can benefit from this project."

A full analysis of the project can be found here.