No, not your Deliveroo order but medicine, we deliver medicine. My better half works in a pharmacy and just like any other stock, sometimes they run out or sometimes the item is so unusual that it has to be ordered especially for that patient.
It’s the same in a hospital pharmacy, not every hospital has a pharmacy and not every pharmacy has every medicine so we are asked to transport it from where it is to where it’s needed. This can be quite urgent depending on the condition of the patient.
As controller I dealt with a job for a stroke patient who needed a specialist form of medication within the hour if they were to get the best chance of recovery. The on-call pharmacist was already on the case and by the time the medication had been prepared our biker was ready to collect.
Another delivery was made to what must be one of the most remote homes in Wales. Way off the beaten track, down several narrow lanes, you know the ones with grass down the middle, through a farm yard to a field. The delivery address was the other side and if you know anything of bikes a Yamaha FJR1300 weighing around 330kg is not for off roading. Fortunately the patient’s wife had walked across the field to rendezvous at the farm yard.
We also assist on call GPs who determine that a patient, often housebound, is in urgent need of medication. This will make the difference between starting to feel better at home and being admitted to hospital due to a worsening condition. The patient stays in familiar surroundings with family and friends and a hospital bed stays available for someone else who needs it. Everyone wins.
But the importance of this service was highlighted by the experience of one of our bikers. Just before the end of his long shift on a wet and miserable night he had a call to deliver urgently needed medication to a home address. Calling ahead he spoke with someone at the address and realised it wasn’t the patient but someone younger, much younger. The child was caring for their mother at home. It was important for the patient that they received this medication quickly, it was important to the child that ‘Mum’ was more comfortable and could stay right where they were.
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