lee and julian harrison headquarters leeds area served prescriptions uk retail products global number of employees 100 website 1 pharmacy2u is an online mail order pharmacy located in the uk . the company was founded by pharmacist daniel lee in 1999 . pharmacy2u has been involved in piloting the electronic transfer of prescriptions in the uk . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 registration 1.3 2000s 1.4 2010s 2 references 3 external links history edit foundation edit founder daniel lee worked for his family s pharmacy business until 1999 when he decided to form his own company . his father owned a chain of chemists shops in leeds . he thought of the idea to found an internet mail order pharmacy in 1997 after a report by the nhs about its initiative to deliver prescriptions to patients more efficiently . although at the time it was not legal to sell prescriptions by mail in the uk lee sold his apartment for 100 000 in order to put the money into the creation of pharmacy2u.co.uk basing his shipping out of his father s pharmacy business . the site went live in november 1999 and used a courier service in order to provide a legal safer service for the website s customers . 1 julian harrison from andersen consulting became a director in 2000 . 2 pharmacy2u became the uk s first online pharmacy . the british medical association expressed concern over the innovation and the national pharmaceutical association pushed back against the move towards filling prescriptions online in 1999 . uk health organizations persistently pushed back against online ordering in 1999 due to concerns over change in the medical industry s infrastructure . 3 a few days after they first opened an inspection team arrived in order to scrutinize their business practices and structure . the result of the inspection was a positive recommendation to stay open which lead to an amendment of the 1968 medicines act as well as the codes of ethics of the royal pharmaceutical society in order to allow for the establishment of internet based pharmacies . 4 pharmacy2u became the first online pharmacy to be approved by the royal pharmaceutical society of great britain . 5 registration edit the company is registered with the general pharmaceutical council as an internet pharmacy . 6 in august 2015 it was one of the first pharmacies to be approved by the medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency . 7 its online doctor service staffed by two general medical council registered gp s dr nitin shori and dr alex phelan is regulated by the care quality commission . 8 2000s edit in june 2000 the company relaunched its website as the uk government allowed the transfer of prescriptions electronically . 9 in august 2000 pharmacy2u was one of the founding members of the european association of mail service pharmacies . 10 in october 2000 the firm onmedica invested 2 million into pharmacy2u . 11 by 2001 the website had about half a million pounds in sales . 1 in november 2000 the company launched the first ever advertising campaign for an online pharmacy . 12 in 2001 the company was used as a benchmark for price comparison for pharmaceuticals in the uk by the bbc . 13 in 2001 the company was awarded a pilot program from the nhs for the electronic transfer of prescriptions . 14 in 2001 pharmacy2u also produced the uk s first mail order pharmacy catalogue . 15 the company also provided non prescription health and beauty products for sale . 16 in 2001 pharmacy2u backed an electronic transfer of prescription pilot where patients could request prescriptions electronically and receive a postal delivery instead of having to do an in person pick up . 17 it was one of three pharmacies chosen by the nhs to run the pilot program and trial which covered prescriptions in stockport and north london . it specifically covered only electronic re ordering and not first instance prescriptions . seventy doctors and surgical wards with surgeries were involved as well as partners emis health hadley healthcare and the northwest co op in uk . 18 in 2003 the guardian stated that pharmacy2u had organized the biggest change in the uk market in moving towards electronic prescriptions by allowing patients prescriptions to be delivered anywhere in the uk for no extra charge . delivery required the signature of the patient or their named representative . by that year it had incorporated 142 surgeries into its program . 19 in 2004 an evaluation of the technical models used in the english etp pilots was undertaken by bob sugden and rob wilson in which they stated that the pilots had been technically viable . 20 21 studies commissioned by pharmacy2u revealed that one third of uk patients prescriptions were not filled . 22 in 2007 the company was presented with the yorkshire post s small business of the year award . 23 in 2008 the company had 12 million in sales . 1 at this point it served 250 general practice surgeries and provided white label pharmacy ecommerce systems for supermarkets . 24 in 2012 andy hornby became chairman of the board for the company . 25 that year the company also launched an automated phone prescription service allowing patients to request repeat prescriptions by telephone . 26 2010s edit in 2014 the company launched an app to allow patients to manage their repeat prescriptions . in october 2015 the company was fined 130 000 for selling patients personal data to international scammers . 27 the information commissioner s office found that the company had sold patients names and addresses without permission . they were not accused of passing on medical information . the buyers including a health supplements company were warned for misleading advertising and unverified health claims . an australian lottery company was said to have deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals . 28 in january 2016 a study on adherence research co funded by the firm 29 concluded that telephone intervention led by a pharmacist and tailored to the individuals needs can significantly improve medication adherence in patients with long term conditions using a mail order pharmacy . further work is needed to confirm a trend towards improved clinical outcome . according to the statistics for march 2016 from the nhs business services authority pharmacy2u was the largest nhs contracted pharmacy . 30 in july 2016 pharmacy2u announced a merger with chemist direct . 31 references edit a b c jody clarke august 29 2008 . daniel lee the man who modernised prescriptions . money week . access date requires url help peter baber july 11 2012 . getting online in the end . bq magazine . retrieved july 15 2013 . uk s first online pharmacy opens . bbc . november 27 1999 . retrieved june 6 2013 . jamie oliver 2009 . secrets of my success . crimson publishing . pp. 86 89 . nicolas giard september 1 2001 . la pharmacie s ouvre la vente distance . e markting.fr . retrieved june 6 2013 . registration number 1090088 . general pharmaceutical council . retrieved 28 july 2016 . pharmacy2u limited . medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency . retrieved 28 july 2016 . pharmacy2u ltd . care quality commission . retrieved 28 july 2016 . hubeena nadeem june 9 2000 . pharmacy2u.co.uk relaunches for etp . mediaweek . retrieved june 6 2013 . internet apotheken qualit tssiegel entwickeln . aertzeblatt . august 2000 . retrieved june 6 2013 . mark sweeney january 25 2001 . onmedica buys medidesk . campaign live . retrieved june 6 2013 . ad launch for internet pharmacy . mediaweek . november 22 2000 . retrieved june 6 2013 . medicine price monitor . bbc . may 16 2001 . retrieved june 6 2013 . pharmacy2u launches nhs repeat e prescriptions service . ehealth insider . june 27 2002 . retrieved july 15 2013 . pharmacy2u first with drugs by mail order . econsultancy . may 17 2001 . retrieved july 15 2013 . lexie goddard october 16 2000 . doubleclick lures new clients . brand republic . retrieved june 6 2013 . whitehall is late getting online . the telegraph newspaper . april 29 2001 . retrieved june 6 2013 . charlotte goddard october 16 2002 . online pharmacies what the doctor downloaded . brand republic . retrieved june 6 2013 . sa mathieson july 10 2003 . all good things come to an end . the guardian . retrieved june 6 2013 . bob sugden and rob wilson 2004 . electronic transmission of prescriptions pdf . ifip . retrieved july 15 2013 . online dispensary consolidates disaster plans . computing . april 26 2007 . retrieved june 6 2013 . a third of patients failed to have scripts filled . practice business . march 1 2012 . retrieved june 6 2013 . peers honour region s top business talent . yorkshire post . 15 december 2007 . retrieved 28 july 2016 . tracey caldwell june 30 2008 . virtualization software will help optimize it for business . cio magazine . retrieved june 6 2013 . simon goodley june 19 2012 . andy hornby takes third job since leaving hbos . the guardian . retrieved july 15 2013 . james waldron july 5 2012 . pharmacy2u launches automated prescription service . chemist and druggist . retrieved july 16 2013 . nhs approved online pharmacy fined 130 000 for selling customer data . v3.co.uk . 20 october 2015 . pharmacy hit with 130 000 fine for selling on patient data . pulse . 20 october 2015 . retrieved 21 october 2015 . lyons imogen ; barber nicholas ; raynor david ; wei li 11 january 2016 . the medicines advice service evaluation mase a randomised controlled trial of a pharmacist led telephone based intervention designed to improve medication adherence . bmj quality and safety . retrieved 28 july 2016 . pharmacy and appliance contractor dispensing data . nhsbsa . retrieved 28 july 2016 . leeds pharmacy2u completes 40m merger with chemist direct to create industry giant . bdaily . 4 july 2016 . retrieved 28 july 2016 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pharmacy2u & oldid 732045799 categories pharmacies of the united kingdom1999 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