Newton News would like to make you aware of a company currently Use Your Local Pharmacies sending mail shots in our area called Pharmacy2U. This company runs a pharmacy in Leeds which is a “mail order” pharmacy. In recent years, they have targeted areas of the country where GP’s are beginning to send their prescriptions electronically – they can see this because the NHS publishes an interactive map showing where GP sites are going live.

In Aycliffe, Pease Way was a pilot site for the area and so we have had EPS for some five years or more. They send out mail shots which are confusing to patients as they seem to suggest that the letters have come from either the NHS (they carry the NHS logo) or from the GP practice. Several patients have signed up to this service who were clearly not aware of what they were signing up for until they have presented at a pharmacy looking for their prescription when Pharmacy2U has been nominated by them. Not only is this confusing for patients who have otherwise been perfectly happy with the local service but it is generating waste and workload for the GP practices and the NHS as a whole.