Seconds Count: What to look for in a healthcare courier

In a UK Construction Online exclusive, John Afonso – Managing Director of Victory Courier Services – considers logistics from a healthcare perspective and explains what you should expect from your chosen delivery partner.

John Afonso

As any experienced healthcare professional will know, time is of the essence – especially where patient care is concerned. With resources overstretched, NHS Trusts, GP surgeries and healthcare providers of all shapes and sizes are finding themselves increasingly reliant on tried and trusted courier services for time-sensitive deliveries. But with lives at stake, how can you ensure you’re sourcing the right delivery partner?

Firstly, whether it’s critical deliveries of blood or organs, pathology specimens, patient records or specialist medical equipment, you need to be certain that your courier is equipped to handle healthcare cargo safely and securely. Are they able to conduct temperature controlled deliveries, for instance? Do they have the procedures in place to ensure sensitive cargo isn’t damaged en-route or that confidential patient records aren’t mislabeled? If the answer is an unequivocal ‘no’, it’s time to look elsewhere.

Speaking of time, seconds count. It’s essential that your chosen delivery partner is reliable, with a team of experienced couriers and a well maintained fleet of vehicles in tow. At Victory, we rely on a dedicated fleet of specially trained motorcycle couriers. In our experience, motorcycles are able to cut through rush hour traffic and traverse busy towns and city centres far quicker than our car or van equivalents. This enables us to respond rapidly, with same day services and collections within 20 – 45 minutes. Regardless of what they drive, you should expect the same from your delivery partner.

Today, clients have also come to expect high levels of transparency. For you, this means being able to track your delivery in real-time so that you can see there are no unscheduled stops en-route. Electronic proof of delivery should also come as standard. Your delivery partner must be able to take accountability for the deliveries in their care. If they don’t offer this basic level of visibility, you should ask yourself why.

To summarise, a reliable delivery partner should offer:

• A rapid response with same day services and collections within 20 – 45 minutes
• Direct delivery to hospitals and blood banks with no stops en-route
• Full visibility and real-time tracking during delivery
• Electronic Proof of Delivery
• Temperature controlled or monitored deliveries

At Victory Courier Services, we pride ourselves on our ability to guarantee this core complement of services. Since 2008, with support from The Prince’s Trust, we’ve built doing exactly that. In the years since, Victory has partnered with some of the world’s most recognisable brands – among them BMW, TPS, Toyota and Volkswagen – and our work with the NHS is allowing us to play a small but significant role in the fight against COVID-19.

If you would like to discuss your own healthcare delivery needs, feel free to call 020 8455 5660 or email: johnafonso@victorycourier.co.uk

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