As part of a Royal Mail initiative, postmen will begin monitoring residents who may be at risk while making their rounds.
A experiment is slated for Northumberland as part of a new health division that will include checks on the aged and vulnerable. If the plan is effective, it might be implemented nationwide.
Postal workers already perform a similar function informally by visiting millions of households on a regular basis and getting to know their clients.
Royal Mail’s CEO, Simon Thompson, stated that the company was still investigating how the plan would operate. There is a chance for us to check if we are aware that there are vulnerable persons in a certain property, he said.
How can we notify services to assist them if we verify that they are fine? Right now, we operate very casually in this regard. However, we may do this formally in order to offer society and our clients a special service.
No information has been provided on finance or if postmen, who have threatened to strike over salary, will receive a raise.
Caroline Abrahams, the charity director for Age UK, yesterday praised any assistance for the elderly.
She continued, however, saying that while it may offer some helpful consolation to know that someone will stop by occasionally to see how things are going, it is insufficient to replace the health and care support that older people require.
Daisy Cooper, the health spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and deputy leader, lauded the program but added, “I can’t help but believe that is also a scathing indictment of the status of social care.”
Royal Mail Health is also seeking to strengthen its relationship with online retailer Pharmacy2U so that NHS patients will have access to an app for ordering supplies. Presently, 5% of prescriptions are spent on the market.