Pharmacy2U

Pharmacy2U is an online pharmacy located in the UK. Pharmacy2U has been involved in piloting the electronic transfer of prescriptions in the UK. They manage NHS repeat prescriptions on behalf of patients. Pharmacy2U was founded by pharmacist Daniel Lee in November 1999. It launched to the public in June 2000.

Pharmacy2U
Online pharmacy
IndustryPharmaceutical
Founded1999
FounderDaniel Lee
Headquarters
Leeds
,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
(prescriptions)
Global
(retail products)
Key people
  • Mark Livingstone
  • (CEO)
  • Gary Dannatt
  • (COO)
ProductsNHS repeat prescriptions service
Number of employees
200
Websitewww.pharmacy2u.co.uk

History

The British Medical Association initially had concerns about the use of internet prescribing and wanted to know more about Pharmacy2U's service. The chairman of the BMA's prescribing committee, George Rae, said "I would advise against getting private prescriptions over the internet because the patient's GP is not involved".[1] By July 2000, the council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society had established the standards of professional practice for those who wished to provide pharmaceutical services via the internet.[2] By August 2000, Pharmacy2U was one of the founding members of the European Association of Mail Service Pharmacies.[3]

Pharmacy2U was involved in the first pilots to trial the electronic transfer of prescriptions (EPS) which went live in June 2002.[4][5] With EPS, patients could request prescriptions electronically, and receive their medication by a postal delivery rather than picking it up in person.[6]

By 2003, Pharmacy2U had incorporated 142 surgeries into its program.[7]

In October 2015, Pharmacy2U were fined £130,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office for selling the names and addresses of patients without their permission. A spokesman apologised and said that Pharmacy2U would no longer sell patient data.[8]

During the opening of their £3.5 million Leeds-based dispensary in 2015, Pharmacy2U stopped providing medication for several weeks due to a failure in their automated dispensing system. A Pharmacy2U spokesman apologised, saying that "unforeseen difficulties" had led to "unexpected delays for some orders".[9][10]

In January 2016, Pharmacy2U merged with ChemistDirect.co.uk who specialise in over-the-counter remedies. ChemistDirect.co.uk's Mark Livingstone took on the role of CEO for the newly formed group with Daniel Lee moving to chief pharmacy officer.[11]

In July 2017, Pharmacy2U's direct mail was criticised for leaving patients confused about their repeat prescriptions.[12]

The company was in a legal dispute in late 2018 over the rights of the contact details of members of the National Pharmacy Association. The presiding judge expressed concerns over the company's ability to "pick off" individual members.[13]

As of May 2019, Pharmacy2U has over 350,000 nominated EPS patients.[14] In November 2019, Pharmacy2U dispensed over 621,128 prescription items.[15]

Pharmacy2U was named no.91 in 2019's Sunday Times Tech Track 100.[16]

The company made a loss of £16 million in 2018/19, although it added 330,000 new NHS patients and dispensed more than 5.3 million NHS prescriptions.[17]

In 2020, Pharmacy2U is opening a new state-of-the-art dispensary in Leicester. It will be almost completely automated and capable of dispensing up to 6.5 million prescription items a month.[18]

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References
  1. "UK's first online pharmacy opens". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  2. Medicines, ethics and practice : a guide for pharmacists (Vol. 24 ed.). Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. 2000. p. 129. ISBN 0853694648. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  3. "Internet-Apotheken: Qualitätssiegel entwickeln". Deutsches Ärzteblatt (in German). 8 December 2000. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  4. "Patients to get home delivery of medicines". The Yorkshire Post. 14 August 2001.
  5. "ETP pilots go live as deadline nears". The Pharmaceutical Journal. 8 June 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. "Whitehall is late getting online". The Telepgraph. 29 April 2001. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  7. Mathieson, S. A. (10 July 2003). "Inside IT: All good things come to an end". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  8. Green, Chris (20 October 2015). "NHS-approved pharmacy fined for selling patients' details without their consent". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  9. Ward, Victoria (31 December 2015). "Hundreds of patients left without medicines over Christmas due to technical problems at online pharmacy". Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  10. Horti, Samuel (17 February 2016). "Pharmacy2U loses 5,000 patients after Xmas delivery disaster | Chemist+Druggist". www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  11. Jones, Tamlyn (4 July 2016). "Online pharmacy Chemist Direct in merger deal". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  12. Tominey, Camilla (16 July 2017). "Pharmacy2U repeat prescriptions: NHS patients 'confused' over P2U direct mail campaign". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  13. Wickware, Carolyn. "Pharmacy2U loses legal battle for contact details of NPA members". Pharmaceutical Journal. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. "Statistics". NHS Digital. NHS Digital. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  15. "Pharmacy and Appliance Contractor Dispensing Data". NHS Business Services Authority statistics. NHS Business Services Authority statistics. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  16. "Sources: The Sunday Times Tech Track 100". 7 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  17. "Pharmacy2U made £16m loss in 2018-19, report reveals". Chemist & Druggist. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  18. Bradshaw, Julia (30 June 2019). "Robots replace pharmacy dispensers as online drugs orders will be processed almost entirely by machine". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
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