All Right ePharmacy’s pioneering ATM pharmacies have been permanently closed in Gauteng after three of the four sites were totally destroyed in riots.
Pharmacy Dispensing Units (PDUs), better known as ATM pharmacies, are a South African, award-winning healthcare innovation that were intended to be piloted until September 2021, when the project would be evaluated. Since inception, the ATM pharmacies in Gauteng have served almost 55 000 patients and dispensed more than 710 000 chronic medicine prescriptions. The innovation allowed patients to collect two months’ supply of their medication in under three minutes offering an audio-visual tele-pharmacy consultation with each visit.
The Right ePharmacy team, in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Health, is assisting affected patients to transition to other facilities so that they may continue receiving their chronic medication uninterrupted. Patients are being directed to hospitals, clinics and alternative service providers. No patient records were compromised as all data is secured in cloud-based records.
These advanced electronic pharmacies were located in:
● Soweto: Baragwanath Mall in Diepkloof and Ndofaya Mall in Meadowlands (both destroyed)
● Alexandra: Alex Plaza (destroyed)
● Diepsloot: Bambanani Mall (largely intact)
● Bloemfontein: Twin City Mall in Mangaung, Free State (unharmed and business continues as normal).
Fanie Hendriksz, managing director of Right ePharmacy confirmed the company’s ongoing commitment to assist, innovate and collaborate with last mile solutions for public healthcare. “We remain committed to the development of ATM pharmacy technology, our other innovations and successful projects such as the Collect & Go™ smart lockers, in-pharmacy automation and centralised dispensing facilities to continue positively impacting the lives of patients in Africa.”
“We are grateful to our funders, partners and shareholders, Right to Care, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Global Fund for making it possible to actualise innovative solutions that positively impact the lives of patients on the continent.”
Right ePharmacy is in discussion with several parties including other provinces, private sector healthcare companies and other African and international providers which are interested in deploying its innovative ATM pharmacy technology.
Should patients require further information or support, the Right ePharmacy tele-pharmacy help line can be reached on 080 001 4945. Additional on-site support is also available at the affected sites.
www.rightepharmacy.co.za
