A Co Antrim pharmacy has become the first in Ireland to install a fully automated prescription collection point.
The steel-encased machine allows patients to collect medicines from outside Bannside Pharmacy in Main Street, Portglenone from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
Called Pharmaself24 (PS24), patients initially fill in a registration form signing up to the scheme.
Prescriptions are then loaded into the machine by a pharmacist and patients receive an automated text message with a six-digit PIN to allow them to collect the medicine.
The pharmacy can also load retail goods into the machine, allowing customers to pay for items over the phone by card and then collect outside opening hours.
Items are currently held for three days and patients receive a reminder after two days.
Community pharmacist Eoghan O'Brien said it has helped with both accessibility and social distancing and also saves time.
He said the PS24 had been a "great hit" with the community since it was installed recently, with around 150 people already signed up.
"There are about 50 a week signing up for it," he said.
"The first week we were getting our bearings and then once we had it up and running, we were giving out forms to people coming into the shop and explaining it to them."
The award-winning pharmacist said the service is more efficient, leaving the pharmacy team more time to speak face-to-face with patients about their healthcare.
"We can see if someone hasn't collected medicine," he said.
"That alerts us and we can contact them and check everything is ok. It really is helpful for the bigger picture."
He added: "A couple of days ago, a women in her early seventies said it was `brilliant'. People are using words like very innovative. People are saying how handy it is."
