A pharmacy service has been shown to improve medicines adherence in diabetes patients who are not using their medication correctly. Twelve Healthy Living Pharmacies in Plymouth offered patients structured one-to-one consultations to assess how they were using their medicines and advise them on getting the most out of them, as part of the Devon diabetes support service. The face-to-face sessions were followed up with a telephone intervention and questionnaire two to three weeks later.

An independent evaluation of the scheme revealed that over half of the patients were following their pharmacist’s advice at follow-up, with patients who had poor adherence at the start of the study benefiting the most. The vast majority of patients were satisfied with the service and the support they received. Mark Stone, Devon LPC project pharmacist, said that he hoped the evaluation would “prove helpful both to our pharmacies and others across the country as we work to prove the difference we can make to the new NHS.”