Now Healthcare Group has set its sights on global expansion after opening a £1.5m tele-pharmacy that will create 30 new jobs in Liverpool.

The new ‘super-hub’, which uses robotic technology to streamline the distribution process, is reportedly set to dispense around half a million prescriptions every month, providing support for people living with chronic conditions through the AI-powered Now Patient app launched last year.

The platform, which has been downloaded more than 70,000 times since October, uses the NHS Electronic Prescription Service, which allows GPs to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies nominated by patients.

Lee Dentith, Founder and CEO of Now Healthcare Group, tells BJ-HC they now plan to use AI and machine learning to analyse data from the app and share it with NHS GPs to help identify ‘faster and better ways to treat people’ by creating a ‘live integrated personal care record’. 

The company is also set to open a new facility that, according to the CEO, will be 'ten times the size' of the Liverpool tele-pharmacy, while also planning to expand globally within the next couple of years to help 'save billions of pounds in medical adherence’.

In an earlier statement, Dentith said: 

“The NHS is evolving, and digital innovation is crucial to offering patients quality care and choice. 15 million people in the UK are suffering with chronic conditions, and Now Patient enables them to be empowered to manage their own healthcare needs and to reduce the strain on our country’s overstretched health services.”

In 2017, the company secured a £4m minority investment from Liverpool-based health insurer Medicash to develop its AI and machine learning offerings. 

Commenting on the opening of the new Liverpool tele-pharmacy, Sue Weir, Medicash CEO, said:

“Since our investment in Now Healthcare Group last year, we’ve been proud to work alongside them in driving this new technology to market.  
“This new tele-pharmacy is another first for the City of Liverpool, which not only brings new jobs with it, but will also make it easier for tens of thousands of people to get access to the repeat prescriptions they need without having to regularly take time off work to visit their doctor and collect their prescription.”