First patients receive cholesterol-lowering treatment through East London pharmacy pilot

Ashleen Back, 70, from Chadwell Heath, is among the first patients to receive an inclisiran injection through a new community pharmacy service being led by Barts Health NHS Trust in collaboration with UCLPartners, with funding from the British Heart Foundation.

Ashleen received her latest cholesterol-lowering injection at Rohpharm Pharmacy in Ilford as part of the pilot, which is testing how treatment traditionally delivered through hospital services can be provided closer to patients’ homes.

She previously travelled to St Bartholomew’s Hospital for treatment, which could take up much of her day because of travel and waiting times.

Ashleen Back, patient, said:

“It’s made my life so much easier. I was getting my treatment at Bart’s Hospital before, which would pretty much take up a whole day what with travel and waiting for hours at the hospital. It only took 10 minutes to get to the pharmacy and the whole thing was done in 20 minutes.

“I live with my mum, who needs a lot of care after she had a stroke, and I help look after my two grandchildren, so time is really important to me. I’m very happy that this new scheme has given me my day back.”

Ashleen is one of at least 180 people with high cholesterol expected to be referred to local pharmacies for treatment over a 14-month period. Nine community pharmacies across East London are due to take part in the pilot. The first are Anjis Dispensing Chemist in Waltham Forest and Rohpharm Pharmacy branches in Ilford and Plaistow, with six further pharmacies expected to join.

Inclisiran is a cholesterol-lowering medicine given by injection. Clinical trials have shown that it can reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, by around 50%. Lowering LDL cholesterol is known to reduce a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke.

Professor Riyaz Patel, Consultant Cardiologist, Barts Heart Centre, who is leading the pilot, said:

“The people who will be joining the study are all in great need of cholesterol-lowering therapy, but also often find it difficult to attend hospital appointments. By bringing care closer to home for patients like Ashleen through community pharmacies, we can reach people faster, reduce waiting times, free up hospital appointments, and address inequalities in access to cardiovascular care.”

Chris Laing, Chief Executive Officer, UCLPartners, said:

“Bringing inclisiran into community pharmacies is a great example of health innovation working in practice. By working with our partners to adopt and test new approaches in real clinical settings, we build the evidence and experience needed to help make effective treatments available to patients closer to home.”

The pilot builds on UCLPartners’ wider work with Barts Health and NHS partners to adopt and test cardiovascular innovations, improving access to prevention and treatment in the community. This includes rapid cholesterol testing in community pharmacies, which has already been used with thousands of patients and is now being expanded to around 100 pharmacies across England.

If successful, learning from the pilot could help inform how similar approaches are adopted elsewhere in the NHS.