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The General Pharmaceutical Council has said it is a "key priority" to investigate the Pharmacy2U patient data case and to consider what action it needs to take in response.

In a statement, the regulator said: €We conducted an inspection of Pharmacy2U jointly with NHS England in April that assessed whether action had been taken by Pharmacy2U to avoid any further misuse of patient information and if there were any wider issues which needed to be addressed in relation to our standards for registered pharmacies.

€This inspection found that Pharmacy2U had taken steps to prevent another breach of patient information taking place and that there were no other immediate patient safety concerns.

€We have communicated closely with the Information Commissioner's Office during their investigation and now that their investigation has concluded, we have asked the ICO to supply the evidence which it may hold which could be relevant to the GPhC's ongoing investigation. We are also taking further steps to gather all other relevant evidence.

€That evidence will be assessed in order to decide whether, and in what way, action will be taken against Pharmacy2U and against any registered pharmacy professionals employed by Pharmacy2U who were responsible for misuse of patient information.€

Pharmacy2U was last month fined £130,000 by the ICO for selling the data through a direct marketing firm. The British Medical Association has called for custodial penalties for those who wilfully or recklessly abuse personal data.