National pharmacy retail chain Boots has announced a UK-wide diabetes screening pilot which will offer a private screening service to customers using the LumiraDx platform and HbA1c test.
The pilot will launch in May in seven Boots stores, initially targetting cities with a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes including: Manchester, London and Birmingham. Plans are already in place to roll out the service to more stores in the next year if there is demand from customers.
During the screening appointment, patients will be asked a few questions to check that the service is suitable for them. If suitable, a simple finger prick of blood is taken and analysed using the LumiraDx HbA1c diagnostic test. Results are given in less than seven minutes, if they indicate increased levels of HbA1c, the patient will be advised to discuss their result with their GP.
Seb James, Managing Director of Boots commented: “There are currently around 850,000 people in the UK living with undiagnosed diabetes according to iabetes UK. Boots want to help address that. As well as having community pharmacies like Boots perform screening tests, there could be an expanded role for diabetes management in community pharmacy. Our pharmacy team members could support with checks when patients collect their medicines and feed this information back to their GP via their patient record. That could be really powerful.”
To find out more about the LumiraDx HbA1c test , visit the website - www.lumiradx.com.