Boots’ £5-a-week prescription delivery charge branded ‘attack on vulnerable’

BY VIVIENNE AITKEN THE country’s most vulnerable patients will be forced to pay for the delivery of their medicines by the UK’s largest pharmacy chain.

Boots has slapped a £5-aweek delivery charge on all its customers – despite it being those least able to afford the charge who will have to pay.

In Ayr, a woman who asked not to be identified said: “It is an attack on the most vulnerable.”

The woman, 80, and her husband, 86, both receive dosette boxes – weekly containers where drugs are set out in days and times – delivered to their homes.

She said: “I can call it off if I want but I have no transport to go and get them. I always used to have faith in Boots but not any more”

In Motherwell, Steven, 46, is furious that he is being asked to pay £5 a week for his anti-depressant tablets.

Steven suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

He has been housebound for two-and-a-half years so is completely dependent on Boots’ delivery service.

He said: “I got a call on Friday saying from September I would have to pay £5 a week.

“I cannot afford £20 a month to get my prescription. I am on Universal Credit and Disability Living Allowance and that’s a lot of money to me.”

Boots said they had recently launched an online repeat prescription service, which includes free delivery for all patients.

But patients who wish to continue to have their prescriptions delivered from store, rather than from the online service, will now be charged.

The company said patients can pay a one-off fee of £5 for delivery or subscribe to 12 months of deliveries for £55.

They added: “Patients who make use of the in-store service will be required to pay for delivery should they require it, with exceptions in place to cover our most vulnerable patients in circumstances where their care necessitates delivery.”