Prescription home delivery

Wibbles

After a recent problem with my pharmacy being understaffed and closed for days on end - I am thinking about using an On line prescription home delivery service for my meds.

I thought that it was wrong for a pharmacy to close without any notice anyway - it could put lives at risk ?

Which is the best on-line service to use ?

Any problems with any of them ?

ie) Pharmacy2U.....

Hannah_Alumni

I used Superdrug for my prescriptions for a while and I didn't have any issues with Superdrug, but the drs surgery called every time because the distribution centre was in a different city. 

Wibbles

What about Royal Mail strikes - do they affect delivery of pharmacy items ?

Hannah_Alumni

I'm unsure, but I believe they use another courier to do same day deliveries which include prescriptions. 

Wibbles

But Pharmacy4U for example claims to use RM for delivery
I was just wondering how this works 

Hannah_Alumni

Oh sorry I don't know about Pharmacy4U. I think with Royal Mail, although medications will more than likely be a tracked delivery, with everything going on there is that little aspect of 'unknown' I'm afraid. 

Does Pharmacy4U address the strikes on their website at all? 

Cartini

Wibbles said:

After a recent problem with my pharmacy being understaffed and closed for days on end - I am thinking about using an On line prescription home delivery service for my meds.

I thought that it was wrong for a pharmacy to close without any notice anyway - it could put lives at risk ?

Which is the best on-line service to use ?

Any problems with any of them ?

ie) Pharmacy2U.....

If they haven`t got the staff, there`s nothing they can do unfortunately.

As for your question about online services:

I use Well online pharmacy to order my prescriptions.
There are pros and cons to using online chemists (I can only comment on my experience with Well):

Pros:
You don`t have to go to the Drs to submit, and then collect, your prescription (Some surgeries allow you to do this online).
You don`t have to go to the Chemist to get your medication.

Cons:
Royal Mail strikes do affect delivery.
If Well is busy, it can take longer than normal to get your medication.
Sometimes Well have to chase the Dr for the prescription (this is a regular occurrence with my surgery), adding to how long it takes to receive your items.
Depending on how busy Well and the surgery are, it can take up to 2 weeks before medication is received, so you could be without some medication for a while (as I have been).
I also find at times Well packs too much medication in one package, making it too large for the letter box.  One pleb of a postie tried forcing a package that was too large for the letter box which resulted in the outside flap being ripped off when he extracted it. Pleb.

Would I recommend online pharmacy services?  I think, despite the cons (and these cons may not be evident with other service providers), I would recommend using the online service.

Wibbles

I use Well at the moment but they are having a few employee problems 
I may sign up for Wells' home delivery service 
Although why should this improve the service? 

Cartini

Wibbles said:

I use Well at the moment but they are having a few employee problems 
I may sign up for Wells' home delivery service 
Although why should this improve the service? 

I used to have my prescriptions sent to the Well chemist (the only one my surgery works with), but changed to online because the staff in the chemist were awful.

bg844

My local Well pharmacy is disgraceful and after a major 3 month staffing shortage in 2020 I Googled other pharmacies in my area, after 17 years. I chose one 2 miles away which is much further than Well (0.2 miles) but they deliver my prescriptions the same day it’s received by my GP as it’s a late night branch. I must admit my GP is brilliant, I order my repeat via the Patient Access app at around 8am and I get the prescription to my door at around 6pm that evening.

I call it disgraceful because every single week I hear of people who are missing medication and their staff rotate between branches which causes issues, bring back the Co-operative pharmacy which was brilliant! It might be worth trying a local pharmacy, you may be surprised.

JBS2022

I use Pharmacy2U never had any issues, medications arrive on time and I can track the parcel online. Just have to remember to reorder my meds but they text a reminder every month.