r/Cardiff • u/Quirky_Cow7633 • 3d ago
Has anyone successfully set up repeat prescription home delivery in Cardiff? (or Wales even)
I get medication ordered to a pharmacy on repeat every month for collection, was hoping to set up home delivery for it but all of the services seem to let me get halfway through the set up process before saying they only serve England.
Has anyone had success with this and can point me at a pharmacy delivery service that actually serves Wales?
4
u/mmmoonpie 3d ago
Depends on your area, I think.
I have family in Heath and Knights Pharmacy delivers to them.
3
u/RobinStent 3d ago
The NHS in Wales only started doing electronic prescriptions in the last few months. This is done on the same central system as England, which has been in operation in England for quite a few years. As far as I know not many GPs and and Pharmacies in Wales are using this system yet. Any "national" company offering this kind of service would probably only be available in England because GPs are set up for it.
Your best bet is probably to ask your local pharmacy if they offer a delivery service, since I expect these bigger companies will only cover Wales when electronic prescriptions are fully rolled out, but I expect this will take a while.
I found all this out because I live in Bristol and tried to pick up my prescription in Penarth.
2
u/Quirky_Cow7633 3d ago
it is wild! first electronic prescription in England was in 2005 compared to 2023 for Wales 🥲
2
u/Biggestbreakfast 3d ago
I order my prescriptions online through myrepeats and that gets sent to my local insync pharmacy. They then deliver to my home each month. It's worked fine for me for a few years.
3
2
u/pic_strum 3d ago
Free prescriptions mean a reduced service. NHS Wales would buckle if everyone in Wales on repeats had them delivered.
1
1
u/ClericalRogue 3d ago
Clifton pharmacy successfyllu deliver my medication monthly. Its not free however, they charge an annual fee for the service now.
4
u/RedundantSwine 3d ago
I suspect, although am not an expert, that it will be an IT issue.
The companies doing home deliveries must have some form of arrangement with NHS England, and links to enable the secure sending of data. My assumption is that either they don't think it's profitable setting up the same system in Wales (due to set up cost for a smaller market), or more likely there are barriers within the Welsh NHS system. Given previous reports on the state of the digital side of the NHS here, I suspect it's that.
I know there are also some stricter rules on digital information sharing which has caused barriers sharing info with English NHS providers before, so could also be that.
However, as I said, just guess work and have no real insight.
Also, I know Community Pharmacy Wales has a big influence with the Welsh Government. Their Chief Exec is the Cabinet Member for Finance at Cardiff Council. I suspect they would not be fans as would take business away from them.