Lloyds Online Doctor has expanded its weight loss service in Ireland to offer “fast-track” home delivery amid a shortage of GPs, it announced yesterday.
The online pharmacy said that while a “national GP shortage” has led to “delays in people being able to get prescriptions from their doctor”, its new service will reduce the “typical time taken” to receive medicines “from several days to 24-48 hours”.
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It added that patients who complete weight loss consultations on the Lloyds Online Doctor website will be able to have their “prescriptions fulfilled and delivered to their door by a pharmacy delivery partner” or to a pharmacy of their choice.
“They can also arrange to collect it in-person from any pharmacy across the Republic,” it noted.
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Lloyds Online Doctor said the consultations are “assessed by qualified clinicians” to ensure “only appropriate treatments are prescribed”.
Orders made before 12pm on a weekday will be delivered “within 24-48 hours”, it added, and consultations will be available from Monday to Saturday.
Home delivery will also be available “to patients who are with Lloyds Online Doctor for erectile dysfunction, contraception and hair loss services”, it said.
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Lloyds Online Doctor chief medical officer Dr Kieran Seyan said the new service “represents an important step in improving patient access in Ireland, enabling prescribed medication to be delivered directly to patients in a safe and efficient way”.
“At a time when access to primary care can be variable in some parts of the country, our service provides an additional route for patients to obtain a clinician-reviewed prescription, where appropriate, without requiring an in-person appointment,” he added.
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It comes after Boots in March announced that its in-person weight loss services will be expanded to 75 pharmacies.
Boots’ superintendent pharmacist Claire Nevinson told MPs that this “type of holistic preventative service” is “perfectly placed” in community pharmacies.
