Royal Mail posties could be used to check in on elderly and deliver prescriptions

Postal workers could be utilised to check on the wellbeing of the elderly and to deliver prescriptions.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has reportedly proposed the idea to the loss-making Royal Mail to build on its advantage of “the fact we own trust on the doorstep”.

Royal Mail’s 120,000 frontline postmen and women could mirror schemes adopted by postal services in Europe, The Sunday Times reported.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said: “There is something secure about seeing a postal worker coming down the street.

Do you think it’s a good idea? Have your say in the comments below

“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.”

The French service, La Poste, offers home checks for the elderly and vulnerable under its “watch over my parents” scheme.

It costs about £17 a month for one weekly visit from their regular postman or woman, but the frequency of visits can be increased to up to six times a week.

Postal workers enter a customer’s house for a 10-minute chat and check whether they have any urgent health problems or need help with food, medicine or repairs.

A similar service has been running in the Channel Islands for several years, costing £6.75 a visit.

It is run by a company called Call & Check and the visits are carried out by Jersey Post’s workers, who ask vulnerable residents how they are and if they need help.

If they do, their GP, pharmacy, local authority or trusted nominated contact, often a relative, will be contacted.

In a 2018 trial, postal workers visited elderly people in New Malden in southwest London, Whitby in North Yorkshire and Liverpool.

It was funded by the Home Office to test whether tackling social isolation in the over-65s could make them less likely to fall victim to crime.

Postmen and women asked participants five standard questions about their welfare and connected them with the relevant authorities if necessary.

The Home Office concluded the trial was successful and “had the potential to improve the wellbeing of participants”.

But the idea was “allowed to drift”, the CWU said.

Royal Mail said: “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.

But Ward said: “The (obligation) is not economically sustainable if you base its future purely on letters. We like it, we want to keep it, but to do so we need to expand the role of postal workers.”