Some 150 Lloyds pharmacies across England will now offer a 30-minute delivery service for its over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, the multiple has announced.

First launched in June 2020, the service was initially available from 16 LloydsPharmacy branches before expanding to 40 in July 2020 and will later be expanded to a further 110 stores across England over the coming months.

The service, which makes OTC medicines – including cold and flu relief, painkillers, and pregnancy tests – available via the delivery app Deliveroo, was first started to help those who are isolating at home due to Covid-19.

The service will now also be available from pharmacies the following areas:

● Bristol

● Nottingham

● Exeter

● Liverpool

● Coventry

● Manchester

● Newport

 

Other multiples have launched similar same-day delivery services which have continued beyond the Government-funded pandemic delivery service which ended in March 2021.

Boots UK also partnered with Deliveroo last year, piloting a similar OTC medicines delivery service to the one LloydsPharmacy is running.

Meanwhile, Superdrug currently runs a healthcare delivery service that promises to deliver medicines to customers' doors within two hours.

Announcing the service expansion today (20 June), Kevin Birch, the chief retail officer at LloydsPharmacy, said that the multiple was ‘committed’ to improving patient care. [This] involves giving them greater choice and control as to how, where, and when they access care and medicines.

‘The extension of our partnership with Deliveroo plays an important role in that mission,’ he explained.

‘Although LloydsPharmacy patients can order online for next-day delivery, through our extended partnership with Deliveroo, more patients across the UK can access the care supplies they need in just 30 minutes,’ he added.

Previously, community pharmacies have been urged to consider technological advancements such as apps to ensure their business success in the future.

Speaking to The Pharmacist earlier this year,  head of pharmacy at Christie & Co, Tony Evans said that a online pharmacies continue to grow in popularity, community pharmacies must think of new ‘innovative ways to survive and keep patients with them'.

‘One-way pharmacies can do this is by launching an app,  which would help with delivery and alerts for when prescriptions are available.’

It comes after a review that found that digital transformation across the NHS should now be accelerated following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.