Thank you for your request for information about the following:
Request
You asked us:
This request is made in order to create a trend analysis of the data that has previously been shared in FOI requests dating back to 2001.
For clarity, please can you provide the management information file (MIS file) detailing monthly Community Pharmacy Payments by type of payment and contractor account. Payment details to include all drug costs, fees, patient charges, locally authorised payments, etc. Other details such as the numbers of items dispensed, patient’s charges collected are also included. Please provide the data in the same Excel format as per FOI-02691 and FOI-03375.
I understand that you are unable to include the Controlled Drug information as part of the MIS data release, so please exclude data on ‘Methadone Payment Fee’ and ‘Controlled Drugs Fee Value’ as you have done with previous releases.
For ease of completion by the FOI team, this is the same data set that has been requested in previous FOI requests, and includes: FOI-02691, FOI02117, FOI 01916, FOI-01426 and FOI-03375.
Please can you share the remaining data for the months in 2025 which have not yet been shared under FOI request.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 19 January 2026
We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
Our response
I can confirm that we hold the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.
Please read the notes to ensure your correct understanding of the data.
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 one 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
Source System – Insight Data Warehouse.
Time period
September and October 2025
This dataset
This report consists of a management information file detailing monthly Community Pharmacy payment by type of payment and contractor account. Payments include all drug costs, fees, patient charges and locally authorised payments for example. Other details such as the numbers of items dispensed and patient charges collected are also included.
The management information file reflects the contractor's payment and prescription data associated with the Integrated Care Board structure at the relevant payment date.
Disclosure Control
The data in columns ‘METHADONE PAYMENT FEE’ and ‘CONTROLLED DRUGS FEE VALUE’ within the Pharmacy dataset have been removed following Information Governance policy.
Note: for further information relating to the payments included within this Data Dictionary, please consult the online Drug Tariff (https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/drug-tariff) that we publish on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Prescription Services payment information (https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/dispensing-contractors-information/payment-information) (Local Authorised Payments National Menu):
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: “Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. 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.