Improving Inhaler Technique Through Community Pharmacy

CHL, Bolton LPC and GM LPC are pleased to confirm the relaunch of the ‘Improving Inhaler Technique through Community Pharmacy’ service which is commissioned by GMHSCP.

For full service information, documents and guides please visit our Inhaler resources page. 

Training Requirements


CHL is hosting a series of service delivery webinars to support pharmacists and pharmacy technicians accredited to deliver this service.


An overview of the training requirements is included below.

Changes to the service
1.  Activity Fees


In addition to the £10.00 payment for the initial consultation and £7.00 payment for completion of the follow up, if clinically appropriate; an additional payment of £5.00 per patient will be payable if a positive change to ACT / CAT score is recorded at the follow up consultation.

The requirement to complete 5 initial and 5 follow up consultations before any fees are paid has been removed.

2.  Personnel involved in service delivery

This service may be delivered by a pharmacist or registered pharmacy technician, however the clinical and professional responsibility for overall service delivery remains with the pharmacist. The service must only be delivered under the direction of the responsible pharmacist, who can intervene as and when required.

Training requirements for registered technicians wishing to commence with delivering this service are outlined below.

3.  Remote consultations

This service may be provided face to face or remotely via appropriate means. If provided remotely, the pharmacy contractor must ensure that a suitable method of delivery is available which supports patient confidentiality and ensures delivery to the service specification. The service may also be provided away from the pharmacy premises e.g., at the patient’s home.

Consent from the commissioner to provide remote consultations or consultations at the patient’s home is not required.

4.  Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The following KPIs will be measured and monitored by CHL.

A pharmacy who persistently fails to meet the required KPIs and service outcomes will be decommissioned and therefore no longer able to provide this locally commissioned service.

  • Each pharmacy will deliver a minimum of 1 consultation per month
  • Each pharmacy will follow up patients where clinically appropriate and if not clinically appropriate will document the reasons why
  • CAT/ACT score will be recorded for every consultation
  • All patients who report they are a current smoker will be referred for smoking cessation advice/support and this will be recorded.

1.  Pharmacists

Prior to commencing delivery of this service, pharmacists must self-declare their competence using the ‘Declaration of Competence (DOC) for Improving Inhaler Technique though Community Pharmacy’ available at www.cppe.ac.uk. Pharmacists or pharmacy technicians should ensure they re-accredit in line with the requirements of DOC; this is usually every three years.

Pharmacists must also attend a locally arranged service delivery session from an approved provider (see list above or our website for more information) every three years whilst delivering the service.

Note – attendance at a locally arranged event does not preclude a pharmacist commencing service delivery, they should attend the next available event but can start to deliver the service if the DOC has been completed.

1.2.  Pharmacy Technicians

Prior to pharmacy technicians delivering the service, they must have attended a locally arranged service delivery session from an approved provider (see list above or our website for more information). Attendance at a locally arranged session is required every three years whilst delivering the service.

Pharmacy technicians must self-declare their competence using the ‘Declaration of Competence (DOC) for Improving Inhaler Technique though Community Pharmacy’ available at www.cppe.ac.uk. The completion of ‘Inhaler technique for health professionals: getting it right’ is mandatory. Pharmacists or pharmacy technicians should ensure they re-accredit in line with the requirements of DOC; this is usually every three years.

Pharmacy technicians should ensure that they are competent and confident in assessing and demonstrating inhaler technique with a variety of devices prior to offering the service to patients. The responsible pharmacist should provide initial and ongoing support to any pharmacy technicians new to delivering this service. The clinical and professional responsibility for overall service delivery remains with the pharmacist.