Digital healthcare platform Healthera and Uber Direct, Uber’s white-label delivery solution, have announced a partnership to enable the express delivery of prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines to customers and patients across the UK.

Covering more than 1,500 local pharmacies and 7,000 GPs, the Healthera app enables its 750,000 users to order prescriptions, medicines and health products online. Delivery via Uber Direct will now allow people to access those products, often within an hour – and track their delivery in real-time, the partners say.

"Healthera wants to provide the practical solutions that will help local pharmacies provide the best possible service to their community,” said Quintus Liu, CEO and founder of Healthera. “ Our partnership with Uber Direct is now adding a best-of-class delivery infrastructure that will enable them to offer customers and patients greater delivery speed, reliability and convenience."

Uber says a recent online survey it commissioned of over 2,000 adult consumers shows there is “a huge demand” for this type of express delivery. The study found that 77 per cent of people want pharmacies to provide them with access to on-demand delivery for OTC medicines – and 74 per cent said the same for prescriptions.

Uber Direct, which uses the same technology and courier network as the Uber Eats service, can deliver products either on-demand or accurately within a chosen time slot (60 minute window) in 330 towns and cities across the UK. Uber Direct is already used by Tesco and Asda in the UK.