Prescription home delivery service for vulnerable residents
Vulnerable residents in Andover are now benefitting from a brand new prescription home delivery service, thanks to a joint venture between local groups.
Shepherds Spring Lane Pharmacy and the Day Lewis Pharmacy have teamed up with Andover Self-isolation Group, West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Shepherds Spring Surgery, Adelaide Medical Centre and Test Valley Borough Council to streamline prescription collections and deliver vital medication to those self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new system means that all those over 65, as well as patients in the higher-risk categories, have their prescriptions marked for home delivery automatically.
Volunteers from Andover Self-Isolation Group then collect the prescriptions in bulk twice a day and deliver them to patients who are notified by text message that their medication will be dropped off at their home address.
The organisations came together in March to try to find a solution to the long queues seen at pharmacies, as they struggled to cope with the increase in demand for prescription medicine due to the pandemic.
The pilot launched last month and since then the scheme has been delivering up to 100 prescriptions per day across the town.
Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Councillor Phil North, said: “It is fantastic that we have been able to work with our pharmacy, NHS and support group colleagues to develop this pilot and we hope that we will be able to roll out the same model to other pharmacies in the area over the coming weeks.
“Thanks to the Andover Vision initiative we already had a strong relationship with colleagues from the West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and we were then able to bring the other partners together to develop a solution to the issue faced by pharmacies since the coronavirus crisis hit. This new service is of great benefit to pharmacies, volunteers and, importantly, our most vulnerable residents.
“More so than ever before, we have seen organisations come together in the fight against coronavirus. My thanks, once again, go out to the many key workers and volunteers who are doing such an incredible job supporting our communities during these unprecedented times. They are an inspiration to us all.”
NHS West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s primary care commissioning manager, Lande Newton, said: “It is only with our very close collaboration with our Andover Vision partners that this very successful scheme has been rolled out in Andover. As primary care team members, we cannot thank the Andover Self-isolation Group enough for all their very willing help with this.”
Victoria Harber, Andover Self-isolation Group, added: “We have a fantastic team of dedicated volunteers that through this initiative have reduced queues at the two pharmacies in question tremendously. We are pleased that we have been able to keep so many vulnerable people safe in their homes at this time. It’s lovely to be able to build relationships with some of those service users too, enabling us to check on their wellbeing and offering help with other services.”