Pharmacy refuses to deliver medication to asthmatic in isolation for coronavirus in Milton Keynes

The 41-year-old said Peak Pharmacy on Netherfield was "rude and unhelpful".

He is in isolation in one room of his Beanhill home while his wife and two young children are in lockdown in the rest of the house.

"My wife, myself and one of our children have a cough and a sore throat. We called the NHS and they said we had to stay isolated for seven days. Because I'm asthmatic, I have to stay in a different room to them."

The man's persistent cough meant he used his asthma inhaler more than usual and by Sunday he found himself running out.

"Being asthmatic and potentially having Coronavirus could cause me to become seriously ill," he said.

"I called my GP at Ashfield Medical Centre on Beanhill and they were fine. They organised for more medication to be sent to Peak Pharmacy. They asked me to explain the situation to them and said they would arrange to deliver it."

When the man called the pharmacy about the delivery, they gave a flat refusal.

" I explained I was told to self isolate, to which the woman stated 'another self isolator' and gave a big huff.

"She then just gave the phone to a man who was of no help whatsoever. He asked me to get someone to collect the medicine. I have no one near me. I explained this. He then they did not deliver to “new customers”, only to the elderly."

The man, who has no family or friends in the area, asked what he should do.

"He wouldn't answer me. I thanked him for not being of help during a pandemic that is gripping the world at the moment," he said.

Eventually the man called his GP again and the surgery arranged for the medication to be sent to a different pharmacy - who immediately agreed to deliver.

He now wonders how many other people in isolation are experiencing the same problem.

"I hope this is not the standard the NHS will be working at through this outbreak as many people will die due to these kinds of attitudes."

The Citizen spoke to Peak Pharmacy's manager. He said: "We were not rude or unhelpful. I explained we do not do deliveries unless someone is elderly or housebound. And we can't do them for new patients.

"Delivery is not an NHS-funded service and we do not have capacity to do any more than we already do."

The manager said the pharmacy was currently getting a lot of requests from patients in isolation to have their medication delivered.

"We just can't do them all. In fact, head office is thinking of stopping the delivery service completely."