Rapid cholesterol testing and cholesterol-lowering injections in pharmacies
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of premature death in England and hits communities in deprived areas hardest due to higher risk factors and poorer access to care.
High cholesterol is a leading cause of heart attack and stroke but there are often no symptoms. This means proactive testing is crucial.
By providing cholesterol tests and cholesterol-lowering injections in pharmacies, the aim is to close these prevention and treatment gaps and develop a streamlined pathway for patients to be tested and treated in one place, close to home.
Rapid cholesterol testing in pharmacies
Pharmacists offer a seven-minute finger-prick test that provides a complete lipid breakdown and calculates a person’s risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years.
The results take into account personal health factors such as age, blood pressure, sex, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle habits, diabetes status, family history, and local deprivation index.
Pharmacists are able to give immediate advice and start treatment where appropriate. Results are available via the NHS App, with digital referral to GPs when further care is needed.
Initially piloted in seven north east London pharmacies, the service continues to be expanded into additional pharmacies.
Barts Health and UCLPartners worked with North East and North Central London ICBs, North East London Local Pharmaceutical Committee, HEART UK and NHS England to provide the tests.
Read the cholesterol testing interim evaluation report.
The programme incorporates learnings from an earlier UCLPartners project in north east London that looked at tackling inequalities in cardiovascular disease as part of NHS England’s Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme.
Cholesterol-lowering injections in East London pharmacies
In September 2024, UCLPartners and Barts Health NHS Trust were successful in bidding for funding from the British Heart Foundation to pilot delivery of cholesterol-lowering Inclisiran injections through community pharmacies in East London.
Traditionally administered in a hospital setting, Inclisiran requires just two annual injections to lower LDL cholesterol and reduce heart attack and stroke risk.
The pilot will run across selected pharmacies to explore:
- Administering injections to patients currently attending hospitals
- Starting treatment for those awaiting hospital appointments
- Identifying new at-risk patients via pharmacy-based cholesterol testing.
For more information about these programmes, please contact primarycare@uclpartners.com