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A national diabetes screening service would be a golden opportunity for independent pharmacists and, of course, patients. Victoria Goldman reports…

According to Diabetes UK, 12 million adults in the UK now live with diabetes or prediabetes and the numbers are still rising.

In November last year, the charity published a report, Delivering diabetes care in a neighbourhood health service, about providing a more preventative approach for people at risk of the condition.

The charity recommended that a healthcare professional workforce, including pharmacists, needs to be established across England, using specialist expertise to both prevent and treat diabetes, obesity and multimorbidity.

Raising awareness of diabetes and improving early diagnosis and access to management strategies are essential to reduce the risk of diabetes complications.

“Community pharmacy teams play a vital role in supporting people with, and at risk of, type 2 diabetes by providing advice on risk reduction, prevention and medicines management,” says Katie Bareford, a senior clinical advisor at Diabetes UK.

“The symptoms of type 2 diabetes may not be obvious, and with increasing numbers of people developing this life-changing condition, it’s vital that people know their risk.

“As well as offering advice, pharmacy teams can encourage those at risk to speak to their GP, who could refer them to specialist support services if needed, such as a registered dietitian or the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Programme.”

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) would also like to see the NHS increase its use of community pharmacists to improve the care and support of people with type 2 diabetes – covering all aspects of the condition, from prevention and diagnosis to medicines optimisation and lifestyle management. 

“Their accessibility (community pharmacists) makes them well suited for screening, diagnostic testing and supporting people with long-term conditions,” says Amandeep Doll, RPS director for England.

“As pharmacy graduates qualify with prescribing capabilities from 2026, their role in diabetes care should be considered as part of a national strategy to deliver care closer to home.

“Some pharmacists may choose to develop special interests, but the overarching aim should be to improve the patient journey by offering access, choice and high quality, patient-centered care through community pharmacy.”

Pharmacy screening

Screening for hypertension is commissioned from community pharmacies across England through the NHS Hypertension Case-Finding Service.

According to the 2024 Company Chemists Association (CCA) report Increasing access to diabetes screening and prevention through community pharmacy, a similar pharmacy service could be used to screen 1.5 million adults for diabetes annually, identifying over 45,000 undiagnosed diabetes cases and 180,000 people with pre-diabetes each year.

“Community pharmacies already support early detection of diabetes through medication reviews, blood glucose monitoring and lifestyle advice,” says Doll.

“A nationally commissioned screening programme through community pharmacies would help to avoid the current postcode lottery, but this would require effective implementation, sufficient funding and appropriate resourcing.”

According to the 2024 CCA report, point of care testing (POCT) through community pharmacies, using HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) blood tests to check blood glucose control, could play a critical role in identifying people with diabetes or pre-diabetes, as well as helping patients manage poorly controlled diabetes. Eventually, some diabetes treatments could be initiated by a community pharmacist. 

Lindsey Fairbrother, the superintendent pharmacist at the Good Life Pharmacy in Hatton, Derbyshire, says that a national diabetes screening service would be a golden opportunity for community pharmacists, particularly when used as part of a wider holistic health check.

“Pharmacies already play a major role in disease prevention, but the problem is that the current service isn’t joined up,” she says.

“Some community pharmacies are now offering point-of-care lipid testing using a single machine that can test for both lipids and HbA1c, but pharmacies aren’t being funded for the HbA1c tests.

“If funding was in place and pharmacy testing found a raised HbA1c, the pharmacist could then help people manage their weight, lipids, blood pressure and glucose levels together, suggest medication and refer patients to their GP.”

Shilpa Shah, the CEO of Community Pharmacy North-East London, agrees that point-of-care testing in community pharmacy for HbA1C would be an important step forward. 

“Community pharmacists see patients almost every month when they are collecting medication, so they could offer a POCT service to all patients who fit certain risk criteria,” she says.

“The service could be an add-on to the Hypertension Case-Finding Service. It could also be recommended to women who are regularly buying products for thrush, and to people who are complaining about being thirsty or waking up to go to the toilet at night.”

Management approaches

In July 2025, following the publication of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, Diabetes UK issued a statement to say that the charity would like to see more targeted, tailored support as soon as possible for people newly diagnosed with diabetes.

This would include community-based diabetes specialists to support delivery of the best care, along with early intervention to manage complications. 

“The New Medicines Service can support newly diagnosed patients with their diabetes medication,” says Lindsey Fairbrother, “but many patients are then being lost in the system, taking repeat prescriptions but not always correctly, or experiencing side effects that could be avoided or reduced with a medication change.

“It would be helpful to reinforce the New Medicines Service with ongoing pharmacy care – this was what the Medication Use Review was for.”

Doll says that community pharmacists already play a key role in helping patients understand and use diabetes medicines safely and effectively.

“Pharmacists can offer one-to-one consultations and provide clear written and verbal information,” she says. “They can advise on dosing, demonstrate the use of devices such as insulin pens and glucose meters, discuss potential side effects, and monitor adherence to medication.”

Digital health tools have become an important part of diabetes management, from medical devices such as continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), automated insulin pumps and smart injector pens to virtual tools such as online support services and mobile apps.

These are all areas in which community pharmacies can be involved, supplying appropriate products through the NHS or privately, so it’s important that pharmacists are up to date on the latest diabetes technology and medications.

In July 2025, in response to the government’s 10-Year Health Plan, Diabetes UK called for improved NHS access to wearable diabetes technology, such as CGMs, particularly for those in disadvantaged groups, along with continued rollout of new weight loss medications alongside wraparound support.