{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]],"date-time":"2025-10-28T12:43:12Z","timestamp":1761655392371,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]],"date-time":"2025-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmacy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In order to reach and maintain hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination goals, it is imperative to reach marginalized people who do not engage with traditional testing and treatment. Peer-led interventions are effective in engaging such individuals. Studies have demonstrated community pharmacy as a low-threshold setting for HCV testing, but pharmacy teams\u2019 competing demands are a barrier to maximizing potential. This pilot project aimed to assess whether a pharmacy-based peer-led model of HCV testing was implementable, deliverable, able to engage marginalized people, and overcome pharmacy staff constraints. We implemented a peer-led HCV testing service in one community pharmacy in the Midlands, England, providing four focused phases of testing, totalling 198 h, over two years. In total, 591 tests for antibodies or RNA were undertaken, identifying 24 active infections. Subsequent phases retested 20%, 16%, and 11% of those tested in combined preceding phases. In response to feedback, phases 3 and 4 included health screening (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and nurse-performed Fibroscans\u00ae). We demonstrate engagement and the ability to identify and refer those with abnormal results to appropriate healthcare. This pilot shows that peer-led testing in the pharmacy setting can be implemented and warrants further scale up and evaluation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmacy13060154","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]],"date-time":"2025-10-28T11:47:19Z","timestamp":1761652039000},"page":"154","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Peer-Delivered Hepatitis C Testing and Health Screening Provided in a Community Pharmacy Setting: Proof of Concept"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2733-4347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Neha","family":"Sankla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ray","family":"Cottington","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chris","family":"Cowie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Huggett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leila","family":"Reid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0695-4692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stuart","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sorcha","family":"Daly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danny","family":"Morris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Spear","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ODN Leicester & Northampton Hepatitis C Network, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amanda","family":"Marsden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Department, Northampton General Hospital, Northampton NN1 5BD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Richards","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology Department, Northampton General Hospital, Northampton NN1 5BD, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rachel","family":"Halford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hepatitis C Trust, 72 Weston Street, London SE1 3HQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Scott","family":"Walter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research, Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol BS1 2NT, UK"},{"name":"Health Economics and Health Policy, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1NU, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4920-0914","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jenny","family":"Scott","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2024, July 15). 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Med."}],"container-title":["Pharmacy"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2226-4787\/13\/6\/154\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]],"date-time":"2025-10-28T12:39:43Z","timestamp":1761655183000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2226-4787\/13\/6\/154"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12]]}},"alternative-id":["pharmacy13060154"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/pharmacy13060154","relation":{},"ISSN":["2226-4787"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2226-4787","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]}}}