British Automated Prescription Collection start-up MedPoint hits one million prescription items!

On Tuesday 22, November 2022, MedPoint, makers of the only British manufactured automated prescription collection system have celebrated the major milestone of one million prescription items loaded across their network of collection points, demonstrating increased demand for automation that both increases efficiency and provides convenience for patients.

In a sign of how wider technological trends look set to be adopted in the pharmacy sector, the company has seen meteoric growth since their first machine was installed in 2020 and now boasts over 100 pharmacies across all four nations of the UK with plans to expand into other European territories. Prescription numbers are on course to triple in 2022 with 2023 forecast to grow even stronger as larger pharmacy groups adopt the technology that sends patients a secure pin as soon as their order is ready to collect.

Co-founder Kevin Murphy, the community pharmacist who co-developed the MedPoint commented: “We are absolutely delighted to hit such a major milestone and it shows the demand among both pharmacies and patients for innovative solutions and convenience. The community pharmacy sector in England is under extreme twin pressures of reduced funding and rising staff costs, not to mention online competition, so continuing to work as we always have is simply not an option.”
Kevin continued “The fact that several of our customers had first tried other solutions and then opted to use MedPoint tells a story that not all collection points are the same and explains our rapid growth. The MedPoint is unique in how it auto-loads the bags, both increasing patient safety and saving massive amounts of additional staff time, which is a key focus for businesses looking for efficiency given the direction of travel of staff costs.”

With the support of InnovateUK, as well as the “ATM” style machine, MedPoint developed the first stand-alone collection point dubbed “The SOLO” which is proving particularly popular in Health Centre car parks and hospital locations as all healthcare providers look for ways to make services more efficient and meet patients demand for access post-covid.

The MedPoint platform includes a modern cloud-based management system that can integrate easily with both Pharmacy PMR systems and patient smartphone apps alike. Kevin, who leads product development, explains: “As a pharmacist I want systems I use to speak to each other to minimise avoidable data entry by staff, so we designed the cloud platform to be the “Stripe” of collection points which is incredibly flexible and easy to integrate with. So, our system already integrates with Proscript, Analyst, Pharmacy Manager and Titan PMR as well as the BeWell patient app with more in the pipeline.”
The company which counts groups such as Jardines, Avicenna and Weldricks among its customers has expanded to three manufacturing sites in England and Northern Ireland to keep up with demand and has created at least 20 UK based jobs as the only automation provider boasting the Made-in-Britain kitemark.

Co-founder of MedPoint and Managing Director of Wellbeing Pharmacies, Mark Hedley commented on why his group invested in this technology: “Community pharmacy feels like it is in a perfect storm right now with low margins, ballooning costs and technological changes. Not all pharmacies can afford large scale automation so to have something that costs the equivalent of a part time member of staff working for you 24/7 was as close to a no-brainer as it gets, and I’m glad so many other pharmacy owners are realising that too”