Posties could drop in on vulnerable residents and deliver prescriptions

Postal workers may soon be asked to drop-in on elderly and vulnerable people during their daily rounds.

The plans, proposed by a trade union, would require postmen and women to deliver prescriptions and call a GP on the residents behalf.

The Communication Workers Union (CMU) is hopeful that the proposal can secure a future for the failing Post Office. The union is understood to have put the idea to Royal Mail to build on its claim “we own trust on the doorstep,” according to Mirror Online.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said: “There is something secure about seeing a postal worker coming down the street. Postal workers already do a lot of work for their community voluntarily, including helping with deliveries for food banks, so it would be formalising some of these things.

“We would also like to see them integrating with some of the UK’s leading pharmacies to deliver prescriptions.”

Home checks on the isolated

The proposed scheme would mirror similar initiatives adopted by postal services in the Channel Islands and Europe.

In Jersey, the Call & Check scheme has run since 2013. Postal workers carry out 5-minute visits to isolated and frail residents. They are asked to deliver prescriptions, remind of upcoming medical visits and check they are well. A GP, chemist or trusted person can be phoned if necessary.

The French service, La Poste, operates home checks for the elderly and vulnerable under its “watch over my parents” scheme. The cost is around £17 a month for one weekly visit from their regular postman or woman. This can be increased to up to six times a week.

Trial was a success in 2018

A trial scheme was funded by the Home Office in 2018, which enabled postal workers to call on elderly people in New Malden in southwest London, Whitby in North Yorkshire and Liverpool. It predicted that the scheme could help prevent crimes against the over-65s. It was found to have the ‘potential to improve the wellbeing of participants’.

Future of the Post Office

Mr Ward warns that Royal Mail is ‘economically unsustainable’ in its current model. He says it needs to ‘expand the role of postal workers’ in order to succeed.
Royal Mail says: “We are working closely with CWU to make a series of improvements to our network and customer offerings.

This includes exploring a range of ideas for how we can diversify and grow the business.”

Royal Mail is required to deliver letters six days a week, to every address in the UK, at a standard price.