Services Database Improving Inhaler Technique Through Community Pharmacy 2014-15 (Across the Greater Manchester Area – 2 LPCs Involved)

Please note this service is commissioned across Manchester by the Greater Manchester Area Team. Therefore, the following LPCs have the same inhaler technique service in their areas:

• Bolton LPC
• Greater Manchester LPC

The service has only been added onto the Services Database under this entry to avoid duplication.

The service aims to improve patient use of their inhaled therapy by utilising the skills and knowledge of both the pharmacist and their teams to optimise patient’s use of their medication by:

• establishing the patient’s actual use, experience and understanding of their medicines;
• identifying, discussing and resolving poor or ineffective use of patient’s medicines;
• identifying side effects and drug interactions that may affect adherence; and
• improving both the clinical and cost effectiveness of prescribed medicines, thereby reducing medicine wastage.

The pharmacist will provide an augmented Medicine Use Review (MUR)/prescription intervention (PI) service to patients on inhaled medication for the treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is no age restriction for patients, but the service must be provided directly to the patient, not to the parent/carer on the patients’ behalf.

The pharmacist will assess the patients’ disease control, inhaler technique and provide health promotion information (e.g. smoking cessation advice). The pharmacist will perform a prescription intervention on eligible patients with a follow up brief intervention 6-8 weeks later.

The pharmacist providing this service must be accredited to provide MURs.

The pharmacist must have undertaken face to face inhaler technique training from an approved trainer since 2011.

All pharmacists providing the service are to self-declare their competence using the ‘Declaration of Competence for Improving Inhaler Technique through Community Pharmacy’ available at www.cppe.ac.uk. Pharmacist should ensure they re-accredit in line with the requirements of the ‘Declaration of Competence’. This is usually every three years.