FOI-03688 - FOI_03688 - Open Data Portal

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Additional Info

Field	Value
Data last updated	28 April 2026
Metadata last updated	28 April 2026
Created	28 April 2026
Format	text/csv
Licence	Open Government Licence 3.0 (United Kingdom)

Data Dictionary

Column	Title	Type	Description
CALENDAR_YEAR	Calendar Year	number	Indicates the relevant calendar year for each row of data.
BNF_CHEMICAL_SUBSTANCE_CODE	BNF Chemical Substance Code	string	The first nine digits of the 15-digit BNF Code, which indicate the chemical substance under which the drug or appliance is categorised.
BNF_CHEMICAL_SUBSTANCE_NAME	BNF Chemical Substance	string	This is the International Non-proprietary Name (INN) and is the standard registered name for the active constituent of that medicine, for example omeprazole. For compounds the name may be more complex, such as co-magaldrox magnesium/aluminium hydrox). In some cases the name is a collective one for a range of medicines, such as alginic acid compound preparations. For prescriptions in BNF chapters 19 to 23, there is no "chemical" name, as these are dressings and appliances. Therefore, these items are reported under the BNF section name, for example, night drainage bags.
UNIQUE_PATIENTS	Unique Patients	number	A count of identified patients whose NHS Number was recorded during prescription processing, where each patient is counted once per row in which they appear, regardless of the number of prescriptions matching these criteria.
AGE_BAND	Age Band	string	Indicates the age band for identifiable patients. If a patient's age has not been able to be verified, the age band will be indicated as unknown.
GENDER	Gender	string	Patient gender has been reported using the latest patient gender information held by the NHSBSA Information Services data warehouse at the time that the data was extracted. This uses information from either the most recent Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) message or from the last time that NHSBSA received data about the patient's gender from NHS Personal Demographics Service. Gender is either: Male, Female, Not Known (where no information is held) or Indeterminate (where information is held which does not confirm either Male or Female).