LloydsPharmacy and online delivery company, Deliveroo, have partnered up to launch a new service which offers delivery of over the counter medicines to patients' doors in under half an hour.

The first of its kind pharmacy service will give patients who are self-isolating at home because of coronavirus the opportunity to order a selected range of over 50 medical items over the Deliveroo app and have them delivered the same day.

As it stands, the service is available from 16 LloydsPharmacy stores across the UK including Southampton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge and Coventry.

The partnership plans to soon roll-out the service to include a further 24 UK stores.

The 50 items available to order include:

  • PPE Equipment: Masks, hand sanitisers and gloves
  • Hayfever Helpers: Antihistamines, eye drops and nasal spray
  • First Aid: Plasters, bandages, antiseptic wipes and antiseptic cream
  • Children’s Medicine: Calpol, chickenpox relief, teething gel, decongestants and ear thermometers
  • Pain Relief: Ibuprofen and paracetamol
  • Cold and Flu Relief: Nasal Spray, cough medicine and throat lozenges
  • Intimate Health: Always Panty liners and pads and the TENA range
  • Digestive Health: Rehydration sachets and diarrhoea relief

Toby Anderson, LloydsPharmacy CEO said: ‘Pharmacy plays a pivotal role in not only offering prescriptions and advice to patients, but in also providing over the counter medicine for minor ailments, helping to alleviate pressure on the NHS.

‘Over the past few weeks we have taken a number of steps to review and alter our in-store and online operations to ensure that customers can continue to access essential medicines and healthcare products safely and conveniently. 

‘This partnership with Deliveroo marks a step change in the evolution of pharmacy and illustrates our commitment to continue delivering first-class healthcare services to our customers.’

Earlier this week, it was announced that the Community Pharmacy Home Delivery Service, which ensures that vulnerable patients shielding at home receive their medication, will be extended until 31 July, NHS England and NHS Improvement have announced.

This comes after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced its plans to ease shielding advice from 6 July.

From Monday (6 July), those previously shielding from coronavirus will be able to gather in groups of up to six people outdoors. They will also be able to form a ‘support bubble’ with people from one other household.

From 1 August, guidance will be eased even further: 2.2 million people on the shielding list in England will no longer be advised to shield – if virus infection rates continue to fall.

From August, the DHSC said, shielding people can go back to work if they cannot work from home and their workplace is ‘Covid secure’ in line with government guidance. 

Adhering to ‘strict social distancing measures’, people who are shielding can also visit shops and places of worship, while continuing to remain home ‘as much as possible’.