An inspection of Pharmacy2U after it "unfairly" sold patient data revealed "no other immediate concerns" with the company, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has said. 

The regulator said it conducted a joint inspection of the online pharmacy with NHS England in April, the same month that government privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) first announced it would investigate Pharmacy2U's sale of patient data.

The GPhC inspectors were charged with assessing whether the business had taken "action to avoid any further misue of information" and if there were any "wider issues [that] needed to be addressed" in relation to the GPhC's premises standards, the regulator said today (October 30).

They found that the business had taken "steps to prevent another breach of patient information” and concluded that there were no other "immediate" concerns about patient safety, the GPhC said.

The regulator “communicated closely” with the ICO during its investigation, which led to Pharmacy2U being fined £130,000 last week, the GPhC said.

"Now that [its] investigation has concluded, we have asked the ICO to supply evidence [that] could be relevant to the GPhC's ongoing investigation," the regulator said.
 
The GPhC stressed that its investigation of the company is a “key priority” and it is taking “further steps to gather all other relevant evidence”.  

It will then decide "whether, and in what way, action will be taken against Pharmacy2U and any registered pharmacy professionals who were responsible for misuse of patient information”.
 

Should the GPhC take regulatory action against Pharmacy2U?

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