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One independent pharmacy is so determined to get the healthy living message out into the community that it isn’t just waiting for locals to pop in

It is all too easy to live in a pharmacy bubble. Staff members have done their training and are more than happy to pass on the benefit of their knowledge to the customers who come in and, in turn, leave the premises better equipped to manage their health. But what about all those people who don’t come into the pharmacy in the first place? While they may be walking around feeling perfectly fit and well, underneath their skin, they could have high cholesterol or diabetes, both of which may not become apparent until serious damage has been done.

This concern – alongside a desire to be an integral part of the local area – was what spurred on Prakash Jha (pictured above) to make himself known at nearby Demesne Community Centre when he opened Bowness Pharmacy in Langley, one of Europe’s largest council estates, near Manchester in January 2009. Within months, he and Demesne Community Centre manager Christine Abbott had hatched a plan to run a health awareness day for the community. The event was such a success that a decision was made to run on a regular basis what is now known as the community health fair, rotating between a number of locations that include community, Sure Start and social centres, and even a local supermarket.

A team effort

Bowlee Park Sports Centre was the venue for February’s health fair, which featured 12 stations covering topics ranging from cancer awareness to mental health, together with workshops and demonstrations on subjects as diverse as tai chi and juicing. The pharmacy station benefited from being located next to one staffed by health trainers, who kick started the health screening process by populating a form for each attendee with their name, address, date of birth and a brief medical history, and took height and weight measurements in order to calculate body mass index. Dispensing assistant Kim Coffey explains: “People then come to us and, once we have checked they are happy to have it done, we take a tiny blood sample and check for diabetes and their total cholesterol level.”

Fellow Bowness Pharmacy dispensing assistant Leanne Coffey continues: “The blood glucose result is available within seconds, but I use the three minutes it takes to get a cholesterol reading to ask people about their lifestyle. I’m a trained stop smoking advisor so if someone says that they tried quitting years ago but didn’t get on with the patches, I can explain that things have moved on and there are lots of ways of going about it now.” Once the cholesterol and glucose measurements are available, the individual, armed with their now completed health form, moves on to Prakash.

The community health fair in action

He says: “I have a look at all their results and give them an idea of what their 10 year cardiac risk is. If I see someone who I think is high risk – someone with a high BMI and raised blood pressure and cholesterol who is a heavy drinker, for example – I’ll ask if they are happy for me to send a referral letter to their GP so they can be seen within seven days. If it isn’t that urgent – perhaps someone with raised blood pressure but nothing else – I’ll advise them to take their copy of the form to their GP themselves for follow-up.”

Lifestyle interventions are also discussed. “I saw a lady in her mid-40s whose cholesterol was slightly raised, so I recommended a diet regimen that fits with NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines and explained the evidence behind things like eating three portions of oily fish a week, and suggested she come back to the pharmacy in six months to have her cholesterol re-measured,” says Prakash. “Some people prefer to come back to me rather than going to their GP. Others might really benefit from seeing a doctor, but just don’t want to go. All I can do is tell them what their chances of something happening such as a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years is, and hope that helps them decide what to do next.”

The feedback received from those attending the fairs – and there are many, given that the pharmacy team can see up to 150 people in just a few hours – is overwhelmingly positive, says Christine. The impact is also significant, she stresses: “In the last two years, we have referred over 800 people to their GP for further tests.” The group has even caught the attention of the local Clinical Commissioning Group, which now provides funding for the fairs that take place eight times a year.

A genuine win-win

The work has given the pharmacy team the opportunity to do something a bit different. Prakash, a Numark member, says he has benefitted hugely from the advice and support provided by local GP Dr Anglin, and the Coffey sisters plus other Bowness pharmacy staff members have received training on blood sampling techniques via a rep from diagnostics company Roche. It is also satisfying.

“It’s so rewarding seeing someone’s face when I make them aware of their health and the simple things they can do like dietary changes that can make a difference,” says Prakash. The work is important too. “Some people only go and see their GP if they are ill, when they may well have problems like diabetes or high blood pressure that they don’t even know about but which make them walking time bombs,” says Christine. Truly, the health fairs are a genuine win-win.