Smart Respiratory announces new pilot to transform respiratory care in Community Pharmacies

Smart Respiratory is working with Pearl Chemist Group to enhance asthma self-management across south-west London. The company’s Smart Inhaler Assistant, a small dongle that attaches to inhalers to measure doses, will be offered to patients in six branches as part of the pharmacy group’s asthma management pathway, supporting efforts to reduce waste and save money for both patients and the NHS.

The pilot marks a new milestone in Smart Respiratory’s mission to empower people across the UK to self-manage their asthma with affordable, easy to use digital tools. Here, Smart Respiratory share the announcement.

Pharmacists are often the first point of call for people with inhalers. Once the device has been prescribed by a GP, pharmacists support patients with asthma self-management. In the UK, more than 60 million inhalers are dispensed each year, contributing to around 3% of the NHS carbon footprint. Clinical pharmacist Darshan Negandhi and community pharmacist Alpesh Jethwa, who are working with the Pearl Chemist Group, decided to use regular visits from respiratory patients as an opportunity to optimise inhaler use and reduce waste.

The South London duo started by asking patients to return used inhalers for responsible disposal. Before incinerating the inhalers, they weighed them accurately to determine how many doses of medication they held. Many were returned with plenty of doses left in them; and even more were returned running on empty – meaning the medication had run out and patients were puffing empty propellant. According to Darshan Negandhi, “we were astonished that many inhalers were still half full or beyond empty.’’

In a recent study published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 55% of people who were using inhalers without a dose counter were uncertain about the puffs left in their inhaler. To combat this, the Pearl Chemist Group is working with Smart Respiratory to support the in-pharmacy weighing system, which was spearheaded by Darshan and Alpesh. With the launch of Smart Respiratory’s Smart Inhaler Assistant across piloting pharmacies, patients can now check their inhaler doses at home too.

The small dongle attaches to the top of metered dose inhalers and allows patients to see how many puffs an inhaler has by simply taping a phone on the device. It empowers patients to keep track of their usage and provides reminders, so patients know when their inhalers are running low or need replacing. The smart dongle runs for at least 2 years, costing patients only £1 per month.

For pharmacists, the smart device also provides a report of when inhalers are required, helping to improve medication regimes of respiratory patients. Darshan Negandhi comments, “the smart dongle helps monitor usage, improve asthma control, save money and reduce environmental waste, whilst protecting lung health.’’

If you are interested in introducing the Smart Inhaler Assistant in your pharmacy, please contact Smart Respiratory to learn more.

Smart Respiratory is currently in Cohort 8 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme and is an alumnus of the DigitalHealth.London Leap programme.

The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme is funded by the UK Government via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It is delivered by the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London in partnership with the Office of Life Sciences, CW+, Medicity, NHS England, the Mayor of London and the Levelling Up Fund.

For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-
shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.