AAH is urging pharmacists to promote screening services in advance of the swine flu pandemic which is anticipated later this year.
Statistics recently published by the Department of Health show that of those who contracted swine flu and had to be admitted to hospital one in four patients had asthma, 15% had heart disease and 10% had diabetes.
Mark James, group managing director of AAH, said, “We know that community pharmacies are well placed to provide screening services to identify conditions such diabetes and the risk of heart disease.
This year, providing that service will be more important than ever before. If community pharmacies can identify more people with these conditions then those patients can get the clinical support they will need during the anticipated swine flu pandemic.
The patient benefit is clear, but it would also benefit the NHS by reducing costly, resource intensive hospital admissions at a time when the NHS will face huge pressures.
If pharmacists want to provide screening services then all they have to do is contact AAH as we have the market leading support, training and equipment they will need.
I urge pharmacists to grasp this opportunity and provide this important service for their patients.
As part of our unique All About Health initiative AAH will be encouraging the general public to go to their local pharmacy for advice about their health and access services such as screening tests”.