Pharmacies will be able to use the same “full network of drivers…used for Uber Eats” to deliver “prescription-only medicines (POMS), NHS prescriptions, high-margin private prescriptions [and] over the counter (OTC)” medication, pharmacy technology provider Healthera told C+D.
“Any pharmacy that has a Healthera subscription will have access to this service at no extra cost”, the company said today (January 30).
Read more: On digital changes: Let’s make Pharmacy First happen
But patients will have to pay “a small delivery fee” like those charged for “Uber delivery services such as takeaways”, it added.
The pharmacy technology provider said that currently “over 1,600” pharmacies have Healthera subscriptions and will be able to use the service “from launch”, which is planned for March.
Healthera told C+D that the partnership will work by connecting patients who order through its dedicated patient app or website with a “suitable” brick-and-mortar pharmacy.
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The app will allow patients to track their order’s progress from dispensing to delivery with live updates and estimated delivery times, it added.
Heathera said that it is “happy to confirm” that patients who have had Pharmacy First consultations via its app and have been “subsequently recommended a POM or OTC for their condition” will be able to “receive their items within one hour” via the Uber delivery service.
And it said that while “initially” the capability will be within the Healthera app, it will “look at possibilities for Uber users to order with local pharmacies” following the “success of this model”.
“Not even online pharmacies can match”
Healthera chief executive Quintus Liu told C+D that the partnership will “level the playing field and ensure local pharmacies are prepared for the digital age we're in”.
He said that “it's no good solely looking at what happens inside the branch already” and that instead, the company aims to “consider what will actually help patients stay with or return to their local community pharmacies”.
“This new partnership with Uber gives power back to the industry by providing a hugely convenient service for our lifeblood – patients”, Mr Liu added.
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He stressed that the “exciting new prospect” is “one that not even online pharmacies can match”.
“People are happy to pay for local delivery if it means getting things quicker” he said, adding that Healthera is looking “forward to working with Uber and our local pharmacy partners, as well as welcoming on board new local pharmacies, to give patients something brand new”.
“There will be a lot more to come”, he said.
Meanwhile, wholesaler AHH last month announced that it had launched a WhatsApp group to keep customers updated on delivery delays, broken IT systems and other service updates.
