In these uncertain times, I wanted to reach out to you personally about what we are doing here at Respond to support you and your patients. As the situation around novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, we are doing everything we can to ensure the continuity of the high levels of service you have come to expect from us.

Currently, our service is operating as normal and we are monitoring the situation closely, following advice from HM Government, the NHS and the BHTA. To further enhance our resilience, we are also preparing for:

• Staff working from home
• Cross training staff and reallocating duties, where possible, to assist in delivering our frontline services
• Issuing any relevant important communications to our customers by SMS, Email and via our website

Placing Orders for Prescription Items

 Our advice to your patients when they are placing their orders with is:

• There is no need to stock up
• Respond has already increased its stock holding to ensure maximum continuity of supplies
• Respond continues to monitor the situation closely and we have had reassurance from our suppliers that supplies will continue
• We have business continuity plans in place, including the ability to send orders from one of our 4 warehouses in the UK
• We have always had processes in place for out of stock situations. If your patients have ever experienced suppliers having manufacturing issues with their usual pouches, you will already know we can source alternative products and we will not let your patient be without supplies. Reassuringly, Pelican Healthcare is part of the same Company group as Respond. Pelican manufacture their pouches in Cardiff, and we will be able to access Pelican pouches in the unlikely event that other pouches are affected.

Our Cutting Team

• Our cutting team work in a controlled area and all wear overalls and shoes that are only worn in the cutting room
• We cut pouches using cutting machines which minimises the amount of time we have to handle the pouches
• Each cutting-machine workstation has its own hand gel and staff are instructed to use the hand gel at regular intervals during the day
• Pouch boxes are only opened just before the pouches are cut, in the cutting room environment, minimising the amount of time pouches are out of the box
• There are regular cleaning routines in the cutting room

DPD Delivery

• At present all DPD delivery operations continue as normal. All DPD depots and hubs are working normally and they have no closures affecting any of their sites.
• If DPD drivers deliver to a location where it is known someone has the virus, they will deliver the parcel to a safe place.
• Contact-free delivery is now standard process and customers will not be asked to sign handheld units.

Yours sincerely,

Garry Hallett

Customer Experience Manager