Royal Mail is working with online chemist Pharmacy2U to deliver NHS prescriptions to patients.
The postal service’s new health division is now offering the service free of delivery costs to patients who register online or via its Royal Mail Health app. Normal NHS prescription costs still apply.
Pharmacy2U currently dispenses prescriptions for nearly 700,000 NHS patients, and since March 2020 has delivered more than 30m medicines direct to their doors from automated dispensing hubs. Last year it worked with Royal Mail to trial same-day medicine delivery.
Stefan Kulik, managing director of Royal Mail Health, says: “Royal Mail is one of the country’s most trusted institutions, so it makes sense for us to deliver prescriptions to the nation’s doorsteps. We want to help everyone across the UK access their health needs safely and conveniently, in whichever way they choose to.
“Pharmacy2U is an important partner for Royal Mail Health. Working together, we are ensuring that patients that want to order through online pharmacies can do so quickly and conveniently.”
The new service comes at a time when 5% of prescriptions are now dispensed online, and the UK prescription market is growing by 3.5% a year, says Royal Mail Health, citing NHS figures. It says that patients, who have become used to buying online during the Covid-19 pandemic, now want to have their medicines delivered directly to them. Royal Mail is working both with the online Pharmacy2U and with local community pharmacies via Charac, a one-stop platform that provides those pharmacies with digital NHS prescription ordering and consultation options.
Mark Livingstone, chief executive of Pharmacy2U, says: “Since our launch in 1999, Pharmacy2U’s constant focus on innovation and customer excellence has seen us grow to become the UK’s largest online pharmacy. We’re always exploring new ways for our patients to better access their medication, conveniently and free of charge. Our partnership with Royal Mail is an exciting chapter in our growth, combining our award-winning customer service, industry-leading technology and clinical accuracy with Royal Mail’s vast network to offer communities across the country even greater accessibility and choice for their essential prescriptions.”
