Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

Request 

You asked us: 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request a report similar to an FOI response which was published by NHSBSA on March 11th 2026 under reference FOI 03611, which gave data relating to December 2025.  

Please can you supply me with the same dataset structure, with the addition of column 7 below, for the latest available data month. Columns 1-6 were previously provided in FOI 03611. 

Required fields: 

1. Year_Month2.  Dispenser_Code3.  BNF_Code (Prescribed BNF code (British National Formulary reference))4.  Total_Quantity5.  Items6.  NIC_GBP7.  Paid dm+d code (identifier from the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices) Parameters:  

Period: latest month available 

.csv format preferred 

Please can you also inform me of the number of hours this response required to complete. 

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 24 March 2026. 

On 7 April 2026 you clarified that: 

I write to clarify my request. 

No, this is not correct. This request asks for the field "Paid dm+d code" which is the "dm+d code of the medicine or appliance dispensed, as reimbursed by the NHSBSA". This is distinct from the "Prescribed dm+d code" or "Prescribed BNF Code" fields. 

These fields are as listed in the Data Provision Notice for NHSBSA Medicines Data which can be accessed here:  

https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/corporate-information-and-documents/directions-and-data-provision-notices/data-provision-notices-dpns/nhs-bsa-medicines-data-provision-notice 

I would like the fields previously supplied (including Prescribed BNF code) with the addition of Paid dm+d code. 

Year_Month  

Dispenser_Code  

BNF_Code (Prescribed BNF code (British National Formulary reference)) [Field: Prescribed BNF code] 

Total_Quantity  

Items  

NIC_GBP  

Paid dm+d code (identifier from the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices)  [Field: Paid dm+d code] 

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

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  

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.  

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. 

Please note data for drugs flagged in our database as Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs have been excluded from this dataset for information security reasons to prevent the identification of organisations with high levels of controlled drug dispensing. 

The drug information in this request is from two different views, the BNF_PRESENTATION_CODE is the prescribed drug captured from the prescription. The PAID_SNOMED_CONCEPT_ID is a view taken after some processing, be aware there may be differences. 

Time Period : January 2026 

Organisation Data : The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in England. 

The data for this request is saved as the following files: 

FOI02702_202601001.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601002.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601003.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601004.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601005.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601006.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601007.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601008.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601009.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601010.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601011.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601012.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601013.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601014.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601015.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601016.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601017.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601018.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601019.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601020.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601021.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601022.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601023.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601024.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601025.csv -  500,000 rows of data 

FOI02702_202601026.csv -  107,960 rows of data

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.