When Britain first went into lockdown in March 2020 Sunderland chemist, Adeniran Oladipo worried about how he could get life-saving medicine to his customers
“Covid-19 meant that regular patients couldn’t come to the pharmacy”, he said.
“I thought to myself,‘how am I going to get them their medicine?’”
Adeniran started helping to deliver medicine to patients unable to leave their homes – inspiring him to set up a new business which has been described as “Uber for medicine”.
Even when the government eventually established a pandemic delivery service in 2020, patients still struggled to receive their medication on time.
Sunderland University graduate, Adeniran has previously worked in traditional chemists all over the United Kingdom – including in Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough and Washington – but the pandemic made him question the conventional way pharmacists do their business.
“I think lockdown made a lot of us question ways of working we’d just got used to – and I was no different,” he said.
“At first it felt like a joke – the pandemic meant the sick, elderly and the vulnerable people had to have a remote consultation with their GP but ended up queuing up alongside other sick people to pick up the medicine they were prescribed!”
Newly-launched Dominion Pharmacy –already employing 3 people – promises to deliver prescriptions to customer’s doorsteps within 24 hours – with no delivery charge.
All customers need to do is nominate Dominion Pharmacy as their pharmacist at www.dominionpharmacy.co.uk.
“Early feedback has been terrific,” Adeniran said:
“But the most rewarding comments have come from the children of elderly patients about the peace of mind they get from knowing that their parent’s medications are going straight to their door and that they don’t have to walk on icy streets to pick them up now the weather is getting colder.”
Dominion also offers customers telephone or video consultations to solve any doubts or concerns about their medications. Appointments are booked through the website.
The service is available for deliveries nationwide.
Dominion is regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council and approved by the NHS to provide services on their behalf.