Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

Request

You asked us: 

I would like to make the following request under freedom of information.  I would like data relating to prescriptions written in Northern Ireland and dispensed in England.  I would like an extract of monthly data for the period from January 2023 to the latest available data month to include the following:

Data Month
BNF Code
Dispenser Code (this is the dispensing contractor)
Items
Quantity
NIC

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 16 March 2026.

We requested clarification on 23 March 2026:

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 help with the below query:    At what level of BNF code do you require - do you mean at chemical substance for instance or as far down as presentation level.    Also as you have asked for quantity. Can we check that is what you want or do you want the total quantity? Please see thed ifferences below:    Total quantity is the number of items multiplied by the quantity prescribed. e.g. 2 items prescribed, one with a quantity of 2 and one with a quantity of 3, the total quantity would show as 5 (1 item x quantity of 2) + (1 item x quantity of 3) with an item count of 2.  Quantity only shows quantity that has been prescribed. So 1 item with a quantity of 2 and 1 item with a quantity of 3.

We received your clarification on 24 March 2026: 

I can clarify that I would like BNF Presentation level data, and Total Quantity values please.

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

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.    Please read the below notes to ensure 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 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:

January 2023 – January 2026 (last data available) – aggregated monthly.   

Data:

The dataset is limited to those items prescribed in Northern Ireland and dispensed in England. The Dispenser Code is supplied. Please note the data for drugs flagged in our database as Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs has been excluded from this dataset for information security reasons to prevent the identification of organisations with high levels of controlled drug dispensing.   

BNF Code:

The BNF Code is a 15-digit code in which the first seven digits are allocated according to the categories in the BNF, and the last 8 digits represent the medicinal product, form, strength and the link to the generic equivalent product. NHS Prescription Services has created pseudo BNF chapters, which are not published, for items not included in BNF chapters 1 to 15. Most of these items are dressings and appliances which NHS Prescription Services has classified into four pseudo BNF chapters (20 to 23). 

Items:

Shows the number of times a product appears on a prescription form not the quantity prescribed.   

Total Quantity:

Total quantity is the number of items multiplied by the quantity prescribed. e.g. 2 items prescribed, one with a quantity of 2 and one with a quantity of 3, the total quantity would show as 5 (1 item x quantity of 2) + (1 item x quantity of 3) 

NIC:

Net Ingredient cost (£) (NIC) is the basic price of a drug as stated in Part II Clause 8 of the Drug Tariff but please note that where a price concession for items listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff has been agreed between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Community Pharmacy England the NIC will reflect the concession price rather than the Drug Tariff price.    

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 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.