Medicine deliveries extended to specialist clinics

The Hospital Authority will extend its medicine delivery service to all specialist clinics next week, at HK$65 a prescription.

The service will also cover caregivers and parents of patients from next month, allowing them to choose the service for their family members.

The service was launched in May at Queen Mary Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital. Patients at outpatient clinics can use the service to their homes, saving themselves from a wait in public hospitals.

Patients above the age of 18 and registered members under the HA's GO mobile application are eligible for the service.

It covers most medications prescribed at HA hospitals and clinics, including refrigerated medicine.

But newly prescribed and urgently required medications are not covered.

The scheme has served more than 1,300 patients since it started in March, with 90 percent of them visiting specialist clinics and the remainder telemedicine patients.

"The service aims to save waiting time of patients at the hospital after visiting the doctor. They can leave the hospital and wait for their medicine to be delivered," said HA's chief pharmacist, Benjamin Lee Shing-cheung.

The average waiting time for medication at hospital pharmacies is about 40 minutes, and longer during peak hours.

Patients can opt for pharmacists' medication counseling upon ordering. Pharmacists will then call the patient when deliveries are made.

Patients can also call the hotline indicated on the delivery package for help in case any support is needed.

A delivery fee of HK$65 will be charged per prescription, regardless of the number and weight of medication prescribed, and delivering distance. The pharmacist medication counseling service will be free of charge.

No cases of wrong delivery have been recorded by HA so far.

"We set out very stringent requirements on vendors. Moreover, a unique QR code has to be scanned by the vendor when medicine is delivered to the patient to ensure correct delivery," Lee said.

The service was expected to act as a triage system when it first launched, with at least 2,000 patients opting for the service daily.

"The scheme is still new and patients may not know about it yet. We will step up promotion and hope more patients will opt for the service," Lee said.

"We have observed a gradual increase of service users since it was introduced to specialist clinics."

Discharged patients and A&E service users will be able to use the service from October, as long as there is no urgent need for medication. Chronic patients can also order medicine without having to seek consultation.