Request

You asked us:

I am currently seeking a list of the top 20 medications prescribed by NHS England in the first three months of 2025 (January 01 - March 31), I understand that some information regarding the most prescribed medications is already publicly available however I am looking to also include the dosages and if possible, the form of the medication within my dataset.

It would also be useful if the amount of each medication prescribed was also included

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 22 May 2025

We requested clarification on this request on 30 May 2025:

I am writing to ask you to clarify your request. This is because we need further details from you in order to identify and locate the information.

Therefore I would be grateful if you would confirm if what you are wanting is the top 20 presentations determined by items prescribed in England for the entire date range. This will include name, strength, form and the number of items prescribed

You responded on the 30 May with the below:

Yes I can confirm that is what I am requesting. Apologies for any confusion.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

Dosage

Please note that we do not capture dosage from prescription data, therefore this information is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority.

Remaining Information

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information and notes explaining it is attached.

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

NHSBSA

NHS Prescription Services process prescriptions for Pharmacy Contractors, Appliance Contractors, Dispensing Doctors and Personal Administration with information then used to make payments to pharmacists and appliance contractors in England for prescriptions dispensed in primary care settings (other arrangements are in place for making payments to Dispensing Doctors and Personal Administration). This involves processing over 1 billion prescription items and payments totalling over £9 billion each year. The information gathered from this process is then used to provide information on costs and trends in prescribing in England and Wales to over 25,000 registered NHS and Department of Health and Social Care users.

Data Source: ePACT2

Data in ePACT2 is sourced from the NHSBSA Data Warehouse and is derived from products prescribed on prescriptions and dispensed in the Community. The data captured from prescription processing is used to calculate reimbursement and remuneration. It includes items prescribed in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man which have been dispensed in the community in England. English prescribing that has been dispensed in Wales, Scotland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man is also included.

Exclusions

The Data excludes:

• Items not dispensed, disallowed and those returned to the contractor for further clarification.

• Prescriptions prescribed and dispensed in Prisons, Hospitals and Private prescriptions.

• Items prescribed but not presented for dispensing or not submitted to NHS Prescription Services by the dispenser.

Time Period

Aggregated monthly data for January 2025-March 2025. March 2025 is currently the most recent month of prescribing data available.

Organisation Data

Prescribed in England and dispensed in the community.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “ePACT2, NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.