A Day in the Life of a Delivery Driver at Victory Internet Pharmacy

My day starts at the pharmacy checking the medications against the names on the delivery list, ensuring fridge items are in the freezer bags and the controlled drugs have been checked and signed for.

I usually take a quick look at which patients I will be visiting to see which ones I might need to spend a little longer with and remembering whether they have been isolated, lonely, particularly unwell etc. during lockdown.

Over the last 6 months that I have been privileged to be working for VIP during an unprecedented time in the midst of a global pandemic, delivering medication has highlighted as never before the vulnerable, isolated and elderly patients in our community, many of whom have been totally reliant on the delivery of their drugs to their front door. It has brought home to me that particularly for the elderly and shielded at the height of the lockdown, I was one of the only people they may have seen on a weekly or regular basis. It has been essential, therefore to have developed a rapport with them and reached out to them in these uncertain and frightening times. Some are lonely, isolated, and anxious about what is happening and what the future may hold for them, especially health-wise.

By spending a bit of time with them, you can allay some of their anxieties, provide a reassuring voice and perhaps lessen their feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. I have taken the time, particularly with the elderly and vulnerable to find out how they’re coping, how they’re occupying themselves and to assess any concerns I may have about them. For those having weekly deliveries (or more often) a rapport and friendship has been developed and I have been able to check up on them, flagging up any concerns I may have about them with the pharmacy and answering any queries they may have re medications etc.

Remembering their interests, their family members and their anxieties has been essential. I have had elderly and isolated people mentioning that it has literally been the highlight of their week during COVID. The delivery service has been a life saver for them, knowing that their medication is coming and knowing also they will at least see someone who they can chat with.

For some patients, of course, it is just a delivery service, a convenient and easy way of having their medication delivered to their front door. For others, however, I have come to realise that the service provides so much more - it is a source of comfort to have a friendly face, have a chat and know that their concerns can be shared and can be fed back and dealt with. Many have said how important it is to have the same driver, someone they can get to know and to rely on.

COVID-19 therefore has thrown up some interesting scenarios/ possibilities for VIP, not least the role of providing some good old ‘community social work’ with the elderly and vulnerable when delivering medications, something we haven’t seen for some years.

- Miranda Adcock, Delivery Driver (Victory Internet Pharmacy)