Can someone who works in a pharmacy answer the following question for me please?

[DenholmElliot1]

Those pharmacies who deliver medication out to peoples houses - I don't mean the online ones I mean the pharmacies in Towns where you can opt to have your medication delivered. Well my question is who pays for that service? You know, the cost of the driver and the fuel?

I can't speak for all pharmacies but in the pharmacy I used to work for the patient pays a delivery fee now. It can be yearly or pay as you go.

Tks @zeroinspiration - Around here the service is free to the customer so I wondered where the pharmacy gets the money from to provide this service. I was wondering whether it was paid by the NHS or local authority or something.

Is it an independent pharmacy or a chain? I used to work in a chain and before the company started charging for it, it was a free service mainly directed to the elderly and housebound people.
The pharmacy was paying for the expenses you mentioned and it's one of the reasons why the company now charges as it became unmanageable.
Having said that the pharmacy was delivering for free during the lockdowns to clinically vulnerable people and that was funded by the NHS if I remember right.

The patient.

The only exception I've known is during covid lockdown for CEV patients and quite a few pharmacies offered this for free.

Also in personal experience, end of life care, again not official policy...more the pharmacy taking personal responsibility for their patient over and above the required minimum.

I work for an independent pharmacy. We still offer a free prescription delivery service, the cost of which is covered by the pharmacy owner. We don’t charge the patient anything, although I’m aware a lot of chains now charge and I guess it won’t be long before it becomes unsustainable for us to provide the service for free.

The cost is ultimately covered by the pharmacy.

Some pharmacies charge for the service but not all, but the NHS doesn’t cover the cost (although it did in some circumstances during the pandemic)

I know a lot of pharmacies are now trying to stop extra services like deliveries and dosette trays because they are expensive and they have to cover the costs themselves.
The pharmacy I work at only do trays for nursing home patients and the home pays £3 a month per patient, we don’t do them for any other patients.

local pharmacys to me will deliver and theres no fee i assume they cover the cost

The pharmacy owner covers the cost if it is free.Most of the chains charge or have very tight rules about to whom they will deliver.

Independent ones around me are free, I know Lloyd's charge even if you are housebound. To me if you are likely to be housebound, you are likely to be on multiple medications & if you live alone or don't have a carer you need to have your medication delivered.

We charge for it, (delivery drivers wages, van, petrol and insurance costs 6 days a week is not cheap) but I will use discretion if it’s deemed clinically necessary to deliver for free as a one off. The NHS pay nothing towards delivering elderly, housebound or vulnerable patients medication.