Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

I would like the same information as you provided in FOI 25464 when you supplied us with data on items dispensed by appliance contractor for a 36 month period to March 2022.
Please could you repeat this for the period January 2023 to March 2023 being the most recent month.
Please refer to earlier request for the exact specification. Your request was received on 30th May and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

Response

A copy of the information is attached. Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data. 

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. 

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:   Monthly data from January 2023 to March 2023 

Organisation Data:   The data is for prescriptions dispensed by Appliance Contractors in the community in England.  

Data:   This dataset is limited to the dispensing of products within BNF chapter 21 Appliances, chapter 22 Incontinence appliances and chapter 23 Stoma appliances at presentation level. 

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) 

Net Ingredient Cost (£):  Net Ingredient cost (NIC) is the basic price of an appliance as stated in Part II Clause 8 of the Drug Tariff. 

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:    https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01207  

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact dataandinsightsupport@nhsbsa.nhs.uk / foidata@nhsbsa.nhs.uk / nhsbsa.foirequests@nhs.net 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 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:  “NHSBSA Copyright 2023” 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.