Community pharmacies can make significant improvements to the lives of COPD patients, a new study shows. More than 99 per cent of patients taking part in the Community Pharmacy Future (CPF) COPD support service had an inhaler check at their initial visit, leading to more than two-thirds (68 per cent) changing their inhaler technique and/or spacer use.

A third (36 per cent) received smoking cessation advice, 91 per cent healthy lung advice and 99 per cent flu advice (of which 97 per cent were subsequently recorded as having had a winter flu vaccination).

Eighteen per cent of patients were referred to their GP for further follow-up. The COPD support service ran in 34 pharmacies in the Wirral and recruited 306 patients.