Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I was wondering if you would be able to develop on top of the FOI Request FOI 24442, FOI 27689, FOI 30978. https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-24442 (April 2020 to March 2022) https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-27689 (April 2022 to June 2022) https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-30978 (July 2022 to November 2022)

The data in these requests were from the data source ‘NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse’ with the Columns YEAR_MONTH, PRACTICE_CODE, DISPENSER_CODE, BNF_CODE, PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER, PACK_ORDER_NUMBER and NIC_GBP.

Would it be possible to have the data in the same format for December 2022 or from December 2022 to the latest possible month please?

In addition to this would it be possible, in a separate CSV file, to have Chemists in the PRACTICE_CODE column of the dataset. It appears that Chemists are excluded from this data and maybe part of the reason why NIC_GPB does not match with the English Prescribing Dataset (EPD).

The last question I think is confusing us with Wales, or they want additional dispensers? IG seems to be playing this with a straight bat now so I'm going to add to the email

'The data in this request has no limitations on prescribing, the only limitation is by the supplied dispenser code.'

*/

Your request was received on 27 February 2023 and has been dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

HS 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 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.

Whilst Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs are excluded from the data search, note that as appliance contractors are unable to dispense controlled drugs, these drugs would never have appeared in the data provided.

Time Period

December 2022 and January 2023

PRACTICE CODE

No limits are placed on prescribing practice. The symbol (-) is used for dummy practices (for example unidentified doctors or Scottish doctors)

DISPENSER_CODE

Dispenser codes are limited to the following;

FA133,FA696,FAA96,FAH84,FAV47,FC714,FC850,FC879,FCE87,FCH11,FCY62,FD135,FDA28,FDC49,FDR75,FE401,FE807,FEC67,FEW49,FF468,FFF14,FFY66,FFY68,FG020,FGD92,FGR26,FGW36,FH261,FH272,FH421,FH767,FH804,FHC99,FHE90,FHT00,FHY81,FJ469,FJ708,FJE85,FJF97,FJH75,FJM24,FJM43,FJM85,FJN80,FJT66,FJV34,FK593,FKM09,FKV20,FL755,FLD15,FLD64,FLE21,FLE95,FLJ41,FLV51,FM982,FMD74,FMG28,FMK11,FMV40,FMV84,FMY99,FND22,FNE35,FNE89,FNJ81,FPC27,FPE43,FPM97,FPP28,FPP56,FPW87,FQ588,FQ608,FQT79,FR040,FR158,FR739,FRF82,FRQ51,FRX15,FT468,FT553,FTD28,FTL51,FTM68,FTQ92,FTR18,FV104,FV224,FVQ58,FVT91,FVW18,FW285,FWC51,FWE39,FWL22,FWN04,FWN89,FWP06,FWP87,FXF12,FXF13,FXG29,FXN29,FXW55,FXW61,FYL81 and FYR20

BNF CODE

The 11 characters at the beginning of a BNF code which specifies a Product (generic or branded) but not its strength or formulation.

PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER and PACK_ORDER_NUMBER: If this is not held in our database then it will be blank.

NIC_GBP

The cost of the supplied item(s) calculated from the reimbursement price held on the NHSBSA master database. Given in Pounds Stirling.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data, please contact foidata@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. 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: “NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2022” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

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

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.