Pharmacy2U urges patients to be ‘mindful’ amid Royal Mail strike action
Pharmacy2U has asked its patients “to be mindful” of planned Royal Mail strikes when ordering their medication over the affected period, as new days of industrial action have been announced.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on postal workers to take further national strike action starting from tomorrow (September 30).
Other planned days for the national strikes include October 13, 20, 25 and November 28.
Meanwhile, further “functional strike action” will affect part of Royal Mail’s operations for several days in November and across December 1-2, the postal service company wrote on its website yesterday (September 29).
The action has been called after a deteriorating and long-running dispute over postal workers' pay and conditions.
Up to 115,000 CWU members are expected to take strike action for 48 hours on Friday September 30 and Saturday October 1.
In a statement published on Twitter, Pharmacy2U asked its patients “to be mindful of the strikes if you are needing your medication over this time”.
Read more: Pharmacy2U and Royal Mail launch NHS prescription deliveries before postal strike
However, it reassured patients that “all orders” will continue to be dispatched via Royal Mail’s ‘Tracked 24’ postage “for the duration of the strikes”.
Pharmacy2U and Royal Mail decided to join forces in July to deliver free NHS prescription across the UK “reliably and safely”, following “increasing patient demand for access to medicines delivered direct to people’s homes”.
The partnership initially trialled same-day deliveries of some medication and healthcare products in a pilot last year, following a surge in demand for deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Royal Mail: We are prioritising prescriptions
Royal Mail has “contingency plans in place” and “will be working hard to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as we can, to keep people, businesses and the country connected”, a spokesperson told C+D today (September 29).
On planned strike action days, “we are prioritising the delivery of COVID-19 test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible”, they added.
“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause.”
Other distance-selling providers also use Royal Mail’s services.
Lloydspharmacy’s Lloydsdirect app uses Royal Mail to deliver standard medicines in 48 hours, while refrigerated and controlled medicines can be posted to patients in just 24 hours.
A spokesperson told C+D today that Lloydspharmacy is “working closely with the Royal Mail to ensure medications are prioritised and disruption is minimised for any patients expecting deliveries via our online prescription service, Lloydsdirect”.
