This is a notice to alert all our patients in the UK and in Europe that they may experience delays in receiving their medication and prescription due to a strike and the Christmas break.
Royal Mail Strike
The Royal Mail will be going on strike in the UK. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have notified the Royal Mail that they will ask their members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to go on a national strike action. The Royal Mail will try to deliver as many ‘Special Delivery’ and ‘Tracked 24’ parcels as possible during the strike action. Letters, except for ‘Special Delivery’, will not be delivered during said times.
The national strike dates are the following:
· Thursday, the 24th November
· Friday, the 25th November
· Wednesday, the 30th November
· Thursday, the 1st December
Royal Mail Christmas Break Delays
The Royal Mail has outlined their latest UK posting dates before the Christmas break:
· Friday, the 16th December: Royal Mail Bulk Mail Economy
· Monday, the 19th December: 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For Royal Mail 48
· Wednesday, the 21st December: 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For Royal Mail 24, Royal Mail Tracked 48
· Thursday, the 22nd December: Special Delivery Guaranteed, Royal Mail Tracked 24
· Friday, the 23rd December: Special Delivery Guaranteed with Saturday Guarantee
There will be NO deliveries and collections from the Royal Mail on the following days, with some exceptions:
· Christmas Eve: Saturday, the 24th of December: Deliveries ONLY, collections only for customers with a regular Saturday collection
· Christmas Day: Sunday the 25th of December
· Boxing Day: Monday, the 26th of December
· Christmas Day Bank Holiday: Tuesday, the 27th of December
· New Year’s Eve: Saturday, the 31st of December: Deliveries ONLY, collections only for customers with a regular Saturday collection
· New Year’s Day: Sunday, the 1st of January 2023
· New Year Bank Holiday: Monday, the 2nd of January 2023
There will be no deliveries and collections on Tuesday, the 3rd of January 2023 in Scotland as it is a Public Holiday.
For the latest posting dates for Christmas for International and UK, read through this Royal Mail pdf file. If you require the International Business Services and UK Business Services dates, visit this page instead.
DPD delays during Christmas
The postal service DPD released their last posting dates for Ireland, Northern Ireland, and their last international shipment dates. In Ireland and Northern Ireland there will be NO deliveries and collections on these dates, with some exceptions:
· Friday, the 23rd December: Deliveries ONLY, No collections
· Christmas Eve: Saturday, the 24th December
· Christmas Day: Sunday the 25th December
· Boxing Day: Monday, the 26th December
· Christmas Day Bank Holiday: Tuesday, the 27th December
· Wednesday, the 28th December
· Friday, the 30thof December: Deliveries ONLY, No collections
· New Year’s Eve: Saturday, the 31st December
· New Year’s Day: Sunday, the 1st January 2023
· New Year Bank Holiday: Monday, the 2nd January 2023
For international shipping dates in the UK and Europe, check out DPD’s schedule on their website. The page will give you the last shipping date for each country on the list.
Please note that GenderGP and our prescription partners will function as usual.
However, the circumstances of the strikes and the Christmas break are outside of our control. We recommend and strongly encourage you to allow at least an additional day or more on top of the dates set out by Royal Mail and DPD to minimise the disruption.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our UK and EU users. We hope you will still be able to receive your medication and prescription on time.