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Using community pharmacies to identify undiagnosed cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at an early stage would provide “significant NHS and societal benefits” and save the NHS more money than the service would cost to deliver, a new study shows.

Results from the Community Pharmacy Future (CPF) project’s COPD case finding service show that of 238 people screened by 21 pharmacies on the Wirral, 135 (57 per cent) were identified as being at higher risk of COPD. The research suggests that if rolled out across 11,100 pharmacies in England, the annual benefit to the NHS and wider society of diagnosing patients earlier and reducing lost productivity costs could be £264m.

“Our work has shown that pharmacies are an ideal place to undertake COPD case finding and it complements that of GPs, as many of our customers are not in regular contact with other health services,” says Clare Kerr, head of external affairs, LloydsPharmacy, and a member of the CPF management committee.

“We are very pleased that our CPF work has resulted in this robust addition to the evidence base supporting the commissioning of services from community pharmacies.”