A deal has been reached to fund home medicines deliveries for people who are most at risk of covid-19.

The agreement between Community Pharmacy Scotland and the Scottish government aims to reduce unnecessary journeys, keeping patients and staff safe.

Announcing the news today, Nicola Sturgeon said: “This new service comes at a pivotal moment in our response to the Covid-19 outbreak, helping to alleviate pressures on face-to-face dispensing in our fantastic network of community pharmacies.

“Our funding will help to provide home deliveries of vital medicines for the most vulnerable people in our society, preventing their exposure to the virus and keeping them safe during this difficult period.”

A total of £5m has been allocated to the service up to the end of March, at which point it will be reviewed to see if it is still required.

Around 1.5 million Scots who are shielding, classed as ‘high risk’ or are currently self-isolating are eligible for home deliveries, according to a Scottish government letter.

Pharmacy teams are being asked to ‘proactively’ offer the delivery service for acute and repeat prescriptions and exercise professional judgement if they believe someone would benefit.

The announcement has been welcomed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Scotland Director Clare Morrison, who said the news was “fantastic” but added it was important that one-to-one medicines advice continued to be offered when people were no longer going into the pharmacy.

Ms Morrison said: “For many people, having to go out during the Covid pandemic to get their medicines is a real concern.

“We are delighted to see this recognised and addressed by enabling all pharmacies in Scotland to provide a delivery service to patients who are shielding, self-isolating or at risk.

“Our one concern about delivery services in general is that they may make it more difficult for a patient to talk to their pharmacist about their medicines.

“Therefore we would urge all pharmacists to ensure they continue to provide patients with easy ways to access their expertise by providing telephone and Near Me video consultations.”

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