Who is this for?
Community pharmacies running their own delivery drivers, pharmacy groups with a shared delivery team, and couriers contracted to deliver prescriptions to patients’ homes and care homes. The work is repetitive and local, the patients are often elderly or unwell, and the phone rings all afternoon with the same question: “Has my prescription left yet?”
What does the regulator expect?
The General Pharmaceutical Council’s guidance for pharmacies providing services at a distance (February 2025) covers delivery services. Under “Supplying medicines safely” it expects the pharmacy owner to show how they manage delivery risks, including that the package is tracked and monitored to make sure it reaches the right person, and to monitor any unexpected interruptions in delivery. It also expects the carrier’s terms to be checked and third-party providers to be monitored.
That guidance is written for pharmacies, not couriers, and it is the pharmacy that answers for it. But if you deliver for a pharmacy, expect them to ask how you will help them meet it. A courier who can hand over a delivery record for any patient on request is easier to keep.
Making sure it reaches the right person
“The right person” is where most pharmacy delivery systems are weakest. A driver under time pressure will leave a bag with whoever answers the door. Track That Ride lets you set rules the driver cannot skip:
- No leaving at the door. Switch the leave-at-door option off and every delivery needs a recipient.
- Recipient name and relationship. The driver records who took it: the patient, a carer, a family member, care-home staff.
- Signature. Required or optional, captured on the driver’s screen.
- Delivery code. The patient (or whoever holds the phone number on the delivery) verifies their number on the tracking page to see a one-time code, and gives it to the driver. Without the code, the delivery cannot be completed.
- Distance check. Completion is refused when the driver is further than a set distance from the address.
Fewer “has it left yet?” calls
Every delivery gets a private tracking link. Patients and carers see when the driver has been assigned, when they set off, the arrival time and when the driver arrives. If you have the patient’s email address, the link is emailed when the delivery is booked; for patients without email, the dispatcher copies a ready-made message into a text or WhatsApp from their own phone. Older patients often have a family member follow the link for them, which works without any login.
The page is deliberately sparse. It shows no phone numbers, email addresses or internal notes, and stops working seven days after the delivery ends. It shows an item type only if you enter one, so keep it generic for prescriptions.
When a delivery fails
The driver marks it as not delivered with a reason. The patient sees that on their tracking page straight away, rather than waiting in. The attempt is recorded with the time and the driver’s position, and the delivery can be re-assigned for another attempt, so the history shows every try.
Things Track That Ride does not do
It does not record temperature, so refrigerated items need their own cold-chain arrangements. It does not send SMS messages for you. And it does not decide what you may deliver: controlled drugs in particular carry legal requirements of their own, so check the Home Office guidance and your pharmacy’s standard operating procedures before carrying them.
Patient records over time
Customers are saved automatically from deliveries, with their addresses, tags and notes, so repeat prescriptions are quick to book and you can see every delivery a patient has had. You can export the list as a CSV. Treat this as personal and potentially health-related data under UK data protection law. Drivers cannot see the customer list; only your admin login can, so keep that login to the people who need it.