The “national shortage of commercial drivers and COVID-19 sickness rate” have impacted AAH deliveries “in a small number of locations”, an AAH spokesperson confirmed to C+D on Monday (December 13).
Pharmacy teams have taken to social media to complain of “failed deliveries” and, in some cases, delayed deliveries of medication to pharmacies.
The AAH spokesperson said the wholesaler has “implemented mitigating measures”, which include “working closely with our agency partners to cover absences and fully restore the service we deliver for our customers”.
Issue lies with recruitment of drivers
In September, AAH told C+D it was facing challenges with driver recruitment amid the national fuel supply challenge.
Meanwhile, in August, the wholesaler experienced “much higher levels of colleague absence” due to COVID-19 self-isolation requirements, which impacted its delivery schedule “in some locations”.
One pharmacist working in Worcestershire claimed to C+D that last week, they had “no afternoon deliveries for four days”.
“Stock never arrived the following morning either,” they added.
They also experienced “trouble getting medicines delivered” on days where their regular AAH driver “was off due to holiday or sickness”, they claimed.
“The situation may only get worse if they cannot source sufficient and efficient drivers,” they added. “The problem is the recruitment of new drivers.”
AAH announced on Monday that it is making enhancements to its fleet of vehicles, using a company called CoolKit that is converting 20 AAH Ford Transit vehicles per week.