The first community pharmacy-based clinic to provide a breast cancer treatment service took place this month at LloydsPharmacy in Marsden Drive, Scunthorpe.

This innovative service enables patients to receive their three weekly herceptin injections, administered by an oncology nurse, closer to their homes, says the pharmacy. The collaboration between LloydsPharmacy and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust is said to set new standards in bridging the gap between community pharmacy and hospital care and puts patient care at the forefront of the new service.

Andy Burton, director of community services at LloydsPharmacy’s parent company Celesio UK, said: “We want to make it easier and more convenient for patients to receive their treatment and free up busy hospitals to deal with more acute cases. We launched our first subcutaneous injection service from our LloydsPharmacy Scunthorpe store earlier this year for patients with severe allergic asthma. We have now added to this with the first breast cancer treatment available from community pharmacy which will benefit patients in the local area and save up to 14 hospital trips a year out of the total 17 treatments they receive.”