Turns out, putting patients first is also good business 

Simple Online Healthcare has been named in the 2026 Sunday Times 100, the annual ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, placing in the top 50 at number 48 – one of only two Scotland headquartered businesses in the list.  Ten years ago, we started with a single belief: that patients should not have to choose between convenience and quality.

We built a digital healthcare service that gives patients real flexibility and real control over their care, backed by regulated clinical expertise.  

One million patients have chosen us since. This recognition is theirs as much as ours. 

Care that fits around real life 

Patients are increasingly looking for flexibility, access and control over their healthcare in a way that can work around their lives. They want to engage with their care on their own terms, supported by an expert clinical team that genuinely understands their needs.

At Simple Online Healthcare, doctors, prescribing pharmacists, prescribing nurses, dietitians, nutritionists and other subject experts, each bringing their own expertise and guidance to our patients’ care. 
 
When patients find care that works around their lives and support catered to their needs, they stay. That loyalty and trust is the foundation everything else is built on. Listening to patients and responding to what they need is how we have grown. Growth, in that sense, is the most honest measure of whether we are getting it right. 

Investing in what matters 

Simple Online Healthcare has remained entirely self-funded throughout its growth. That was a deliberate choice. Without outside investment comes the freedom to take a longer view, to prioritise patient care, clinical capability and technology over short-term returns.

That discipline has shaped everything. How we scale, how we hire, how we build. Always with the same question at the centre: does this make things better for patients? 

Over the last decade, that approach has allowed us to grow into a business operating across multiple international markets, supporting patients with regulated, clinically robust care at scale.  

Being named in the Sunday Times 100 reflects what a decade of putting patient care first looks like, and the growth that follows.

Supporting our patients – throughout their journey

Our patients come to Simple Online Healthcare with a range of conditions, many of which are long-term, requiring consistent care and regular review with a clinical team that understands their needs over months and years.

That ongoing relationship is built on trust, which we aim to earn on every level of the care we provide.

It’s important that our patients know that support is there when they need it, their care can adapt as their needs change, and that the healthcare professionals providing their care are genuinely invested in their outcomes. At Simple Online Healthcare our high standards are rooted in the question: is this the standard we would want for our own family?

Holding ourselves to that standard means constantly asking whether what can we do better. A big part of answering that question comes from our research.

Connecting with our patients

In May 2026, Simple Online Healthcare published two of the most significant pieces of patient research in its history. Both studies reflect the same commitment: to understand what patients are experiencing and use that understanding to deliver better care.

Stigma

Our Stigma study is one of the largest studies of its kind in the UK. A nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults, combined with insights from 3,086 patients, produced findings that give us meaningful insights into the stigma our patients face.

Two thirds of patients hide their treatment from friends and family. Nearly four in ten report being judged for the care they have chosen. Stigma, not clinical efficacy, may now be one of the most significant barriers to patients getting the support they need.

These findings describe the reality patients carry with them when they seek care. They shape whether someone asks for help at all, whether they stay in treatment, and whether they feel able to talk openly about their health.

The Promise of the Pill

New oral GLP-1 treatments are beginning to emerge in the UK. With them comes a question worth asking: how are patients and the public thinking about them?

The Promise of the Pill set out to find out. Initial interest in GLP-1 pills is strong. Nearly seven in ten people believe a tablet would fit more easily into everyday life. Among those who feel uncomfortable with injections, the appeal is obvious.

But interest is not the same as readiness. When people receive honest information about what pill-based treatment involves, their thinking becomes more considered. Enthusiasm shifts over to more clinically focused decisions around their treatment.

When patients make decisions grounded in accurate information, they are more likely to stay in treatment, achieve better outcomes and feel confident in the care they have chosen.

Growing for and with our patients

A decade ago, Simple Online Healthcare set out to make healthcare easier to access. That has not changed. What has changed is what is now possible.

New treatments are emerging at a pace that would have been difficult to predict ten years ago. Oral GLP-1 formats, advances in metabolic health, a growing understanding of chronic conditions that affect millions of people. Each development brings new paths for patients, and new responsibilities for the providers who serve them.

Healthcare is changing fast. New technologies and new ways of delivering care are creating more options for patients, and with that a greater need for trusted guidance to make sense of them.

We are investing in the technology, clinical capability and multidisciplinary expertise to meet our patients’ needs now and in the future – technology that makes it easier for patients to access and manage their care, clinical teams with the depth and specialist knowledge to stay ahead of what medicine is making possible, and multidisciplinary support that treats the patient rather than a condition.

The patients who come to Simple Online Healthcare will always have different needs, circumstances and expectations of their care. What will not change is the standard they can expect from us. The next generation of healthcare will be more tailored, more flexible and easier to access. That is the direction we are building towards, and the promise we make to every patient who chooses us.

Care fit for our kin

Being named in the Sunday Times 100 is a moment worth marking. But the people who made it possible are not in a ranking.

They are the patients who chose us, stayed with us and trusted us with their health. Over a million, across multiple markets, each with their own story and their own reasons for being here.

It belongs equally to the team behind the care. The doctors, prescribing pharmacists, prescribing nurses, dietitians, nutritionists and patient care team who show up every day and hold themselves to the same high standard of care. The other teams across the business from researching and creating studies to packaging and delivering treatments to our patients.

Care fit for our kin is the commitment that guides what we do, and everything still to come.

To our patients, thank you. You are the reason we exist, the reason we grow and the reason we keep raising the bar.