Community pharmacies can help identify undiagnosed cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), improving patient outcomes and saving significant NHS costs, a study has shown. Results from the Community Pharmacy Future (CPF) project’s COPD case finding service found that of 238 people screened for COPD at 21 pharmacies in the Wirral 57 per cent were at high risk of developing the condition. There were 88 smokers in the high-risk group, all of whom were offered stop smoking support, while two-thirds of patients received healthy lifestyle advice.

Professor David Wright, School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia and study leader, said: “Targeted screening identifies one patient with moderately severe COPD risk for every two who are screened.” Pharmacy teams screened patients using a questionnaire and a microspirometry test. The research suggests that if rolled out across all pharmacies in England, the service could save the NHS and wider society £264 million per year.