April 25, 2020, 10:06 AM
People have been advised to stay home and avoid going out during the circuit breaker.
However, this is unfeasible for people who require regular medication.
To help these people with their supply of medication, SingPost has started delivering medication.
"Through these deliveries, it is our hope that patients who might be understandably wary of visiting healthcare institutions during this period – can have peace of mind, and frontline medical workers can focus their efforts on emergencies as well as battling the pandemic," said SingPost, in a press release on Apr.25.
Equipped to deliver temperature-controlled medication
The company started delivering medicine since mid-February 2020.
When it first started, SingPost could only deliver a limited type of medicine: Those that were not temperature sensitive and did not require chilling.
Over the months, it progressively set up a temperature-controlled supply chain so that it can deliver cold-chain medicine.
A SingPost courier getting medication from the SingPost Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub. Image via SingPost.
Cold-chain medicine refers to those that need to be maintained at specific temperatures, such as glaucoma eye drops and insulin for diabetics.
Today, SingPost delivers medication to around 300 recipients islandwide daily, from National University Hospital, as well as Geylang, Hougang and Toa Payoh Polyclinics.
SingPost is currently in talks with other healthcare institutions as well.
Delivered by specially-trained couriers
This delivery of medication is done by a pool of more than 50 specially-trained couriers.
These couriers will collect the medication from healthcare institutions the day before the delivery date and store them in a cold room at the SingPost Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub.
This cold room can only be accessed by approved staff.
A SingPost courier transferring medication from a temperature-controlled box into a cooler bag for the recipient. Image via SingPost.
The medicine is then sorted by the couriers’ beats (geographic areas). Those that require chilling will be placed in special temperature-controlled boxes.
On the day of the delivery, couriers will call the recipient before reaching the address.
If the recipient is home, the courier will deliver the medication. Chilled medication will be passed to the recipient in a cooler bag.
Top image via SingPost.
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