Online pharmacy launches UTI self-test and treat app with 24-hour drug delivery
An online pharmacy has launched a “self-test and treat app” for urinary tract infections (UTIs) that will see medication delivered to patients' doors within 24 hours.
Rightdose Pharmacy has partnered with home testing provider Newfoundland Diagnostics and medical technology supplier BHA Medical to develop a new UTI self-test app, the diagnostics company announced earlier this month (January 4).
Read more: Rowlands and Numark roll out rapid self-diagnostic tests across 5,500 pharmacies
Patients can now order a self-test kit from the Rightdose Pharmacy website at an RRP of £15 for three tests and scan the QR code on the box to download and register with the Rightdose test and treat app, it said.
After performing the test, patients whose result is “positive” can log this in the app, then select and pay for their medication - which will be provided by the online pharmacy via a patient group direction (PGD) and delivered straight to their door within 24 hours - it added.
“Revolutionary”
Newfoundland Diagnostics said that the “revolutionary” app “marks a milestone in healthcare accessibility, enabling individuals to manage UTIs conveniently from home, reducing the strain on NHS resources and bypassing the need to consult a GP or medical professional for immediate treatment”.
“The Rightdose self-test and treat app is a major benefit to the NHS and has the potential to reduce GP appointment waiting times,” pharmacist and founder of Rightdose Pharmacy Kasim Gulzar said.
Read more: Pharmacy First cash may get sucked into core funding ‘black hole’, warns NPA boss
He added that while pharmacies are the “first port of call for many patients”, they “find themselves limited as to what they can offer”.
“Having the ability to treat certain conditions such as UTIs using self-testing and a PGD to prescribe medication by the pharmacist if required, bundled into an easy-to-use app, without the need for a face-to-face consultation, is ground-breaking for the NHS,” he said.
Read more: Northern Ireland launches pharmacy sore throat and expanded UTI services
Newfoundland Diagnostics said it comes as NHS England (NHSE) data recently revealed the “concerning trend” that there were almost two million hospital admissions involving UTIs in the past five years, while charity Kidney Research UK estimates that around half of all women in the UK have had a UTI.
And it comes as pharmacies are set to treat uncomplicated UTIs in women under the new Pharmacy First common conditions service due to launch next month.
