Questions and answers

This depends on what your clinical team have asked us to do. They will prescribe your medication according to your individual needs and this will determine how often you receive deliveries from us.

When you first join our service we will send you a delivery schedule as part of your patient pack, but our Customer Care team will always contact you before your next delivery is due to make sure that the delivery address and time are convenient for you.

We cannot make a delivery until we have spoken to you so please make sure you let us know if any of your contact details change.

Depending on which service you are registered to, and what you have agreed with our Customer Care team, your delivery will be made by courier, by Royal Mail Special Delivery, or by our own company vans. In all cases, someone will need to be available to sign for the delivery.

In order to provide a discreet service, our company vans are unmarked white vans. Our drivers wear discreet uniforms and they all carry photo ID cards, which they will produce on request.

With your agreement our drivers will:

• Unpack your delivery
• Place it in your fridge, if appropriate
• Rotate your stock, if needed
• Take away the packaging and dispose of it for you

The driver will ask you to check the delivery and sign the delivery note.

Company van deliveries

You can choose a morning (8am – 1pm) or an afternoon (1pm – 6pm) delivery slot. We aim to stick to these as best we can and will always try to contact you to let you know if there are any problems.

You can call our Customer Care Team on the day that your delivery is due to get a more specific delivery slot.

Alternatively you can check the latest estimated time of arrival here

Royal Mail Special Delivery

Royal Mail guarantees to deliver to 99% of UK addresses by 1pm.
If your Royal Mail Special Delivery hasn’t arrived by this time, please contact us.

The delivery schedules of other couriers that we use vary depending on the type of service – please contact our Customer Care team if you need further details.

In the case of Royal Mail or courier deliveries, a card would be put through your door advising what to do next. If your delivery is from our company fleet, and you are not in when the driver arrives, we will try to contact you, so please make sure you tell us if your contact details change at any point. If we manage to contact you we will try to come back later or deliver to an alternative address. If we are unable to do this we will contact you to arrange a new delivery time. We are not allowed to leave deliveries of medication on a doorstep.

Please check your delivery when it arrives. There will be a delivery note listing the items that you should have received. If you think something is missing or faulty please inform Healthcare at Home immediately by calling our Customer Care team.

It may not be possible to replace any missing or faulty items if you do not do this straight away.

Please do not throw away any damaged or faulty items, as we may need you to send them back to us.

Please note that some items are dispensed in their original packaging and others are dispensed into plain bottles or boxes. Please check all items carefully. The packaging may look different to packaging you have seen before but this might not be a problem.

Any items that require refrigeration need to be placed into a refrigerator between +2oC and +8oC as soon as possible. The items should not be frozen.

We will deliver to any address (neighbour, work address, relative) as long as we have spoken to you and you have agreed to this. The named person at that address must also agree to sign for the delivery on your behalf. You can change your delivery address any time up to 2 days before the delivery is due.

Depending upon how long you are going away for, your clinical team may allow us to supply you with several deliveries at once. If you are going on holiday in the UK we can also deliver to you at your holiday address if that is more convenient. If you are going abroad we can supply you with a letter signed by a pharmacist, which explains to Customs & Excise why you are carrying medication. We will advise you on how to carry and store your medication. We would also suggest that you contact your tour operator to see if there is anything that they need from you or from us.

Patient confidentiality is extremely important to us. Your personal data is stored in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and all reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that your personal data is held securely. Every member of staff signs a confidentiality agreement when they join the company, and data protection forms an important part of our staff training.

Any medication that we deliver will be labelled with any special storage instructions. Otherwise it should be kept in a dry, cool place away from direct sunlight or heat.

Should your medicine need to be stored in a fridge, there will be a label on the outer packaging that reads “Please store at 2 to 8 degrees C”. For fridge items, please ensure that the medication does not touch the back or sides of the fridge cabinet. Fridge items should be stored between 2 to 8 degrees C and it is important that they are not frozen. Please contact your Customer Care team if you have any questions.

Contact our Customer Care team who will then advise on the best course of action. Healthcare at Home will try to contact your hospital team straight away so that you get a new supply as soon as possible, if your medication needs replacing.

Contact our Customer Care team who will then advise on the best course of action. If your medication needs replacing, Healthcare at Home will try to contact your hospital team straight away so that you get a new supply as soon as possible.

You will be supplied with a sharps bin, if needed, so you can safely dispose of any clinical waste. Please inform your Customer Care team if you need a new sharps bin, and one will be added to your next delivery.

Once your bin is full please close it according to the instructions on the side of the bin and hand it to the driver next time he calls. All clinical waste collected by Healthcare at Home is safely incinerated.

If for any reason we have to use an external company to make a delivery to you, they will not be able to remove your sharps bins because of the regulations concerning the handling of clinical waste. In these instances, please call your Customer Care team who will arrange for one of our trained drivers to collect it for you.

Please contact our Customer Care team straight away if you think that there is a problem with your medication or if any of the equipment or products that we have supplied are faulty. As a priority, we will arrange to pick up and replace any medication or equipment that you consider to be faulty. We will make sure that you are not left without the medication or equipment that you need.

You should speak to your clinical team that referred you to Healthcare at Home. Out of office hours, you may need to contact your GP or in the event of an emergency, your local A&E Department.

We are dedicated to providing the highest standard of care possible and your first port of call should be our Customer Care team. If you are not happy with the outcome of this discussion, you can ask to speak to their Supervisor or Manager who will ensure that your complaint is handled thoroughly and sensitively.

We would always encourage you to make a complaint to Healthcare at Home first. On the rare occasion that you feel your complaint hasn’t been handled appropriately, there are independent bodies you can talk to.

If you wish to make a formal complaint regarding our nursing service, you can call the Care Quality Commission helpline on 03000 616161 or the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care on 08456 030890.

If you wish to make a complaint about our pharmacy services, you can contact the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on 020 7735 9141.

You will be given the date of your treatment in advance and the nurse will call you 24 hours beforehand to let you know the exact time.

We try to send the same nurse to the same patient as often as we can, but it is not always possible due to things like staff sickness and holidays.

Please be assured that any of our nurses that visit you will be highly trained and experienced in providing the type of treatment or advice that you require, and all are trained to the same high standards of customer service. You can expect a first class service from any member of our nursing team that visits you, and you can contact us if you have any concerns in this regard.

You can have your treatment in bed or in a chair. The important thing is for you to be somewhere you find comfortable.

Some people feel more comfortable having a family member or friend with them, others prefer to be alone with the nurse. It is your choice.