Optical Referral for Hypertension Case Finding Service Pilot
Local Pilot – All areas
Optical Referral to Community Pharmacies for Hypertension Case Finding Service Pilot
Launched 1st July 2022. The pilot end date has been extended to 31.03.25
The Pharmacy NHS advanced Hypertension case finding service is developing well in the Humber LPC area however the level of activity is currently low.
Humber and North Yorkshire LPCs have been working with NHSE and colleagues in the Local Optical Committee to work up a referral pathway whereby opticians can refer patients they suspect are hypertensive from retinal examinations, to participating community pharmacies for access to the Hypertension case finding service.
Referrals will be made via PharmOutcomes, and pharmacies will provide the NHS Hypertension case finding service to the referred patients.
The referral service will enable contractors to increase BP testing and potentially achieve ABPM target levels, thereby generating additional service income for community pharmacies whilst also reducing the demand for GP appointments.
A webinar was be held on the 17th of May 2022 for pharmacists and opticians interested in finding out more about this proposal.
The webinar from 17th May 2022 7-8pm is available to watch here.
Also please see link for the recorded training webinar session which took place on 14th June 2022 (the recording is 31 minutes). This session was specifically for Community Pharmacies and explains how PharmOutcomes will be used throughout the pilot. Please click here to access the recording.
You can express your interest to provide this service by emailing: england.primarycare@nhs.net
Any questions about the pilot may also be directed to: england.primarycare@nhs.net
April 2024 update:
From the 1st of April 2024, a fee will be paid to the pharmacy for each referred patient accepted into the service. To trigger the fee, you MUST complete the PharmOutcomes platform and choose the COMPLETE NOW option, then complete the questions raised.
Pharmacies signed up to receive referrals from optical practices into the NHS Hypertension Case Finding Service must complete the PharmOutcomes platform for every referral received, regardless of whether the HCFS has been provided to the patient or not.
- If the HCFS is provided: Record the outcome of the intervention within the PharmOutcomes platform.
- If you have been unable to contact the patient or the patient has declined the HCFS, then record this in the PO platform to close the referral. Note, the pharmacy must try to contact the patient on at least 3 occasions.
- If you need to reject the referral, then you must record this.
Please click here to visit our Hypertension Case Finding Service page for more informati0n on the national service, including: introduction to the service, webinars, BP meters, resources and more.
