Request

Please provide the following information in regards to pharmacy contractors in England, from April 2021 to September 2023.

• The name and postcode of the pharmacy contractor
• Net payment made by NHSBSA
• Total of drugs and appliance cost plus fees
• Number of items dispensed
• Total of all service fees (All advanced services e.g. NMS, CPCS, Flu vaccinations, Hypertension case finding service)

Response

Under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. Some of the information you requested is available via the Open Data Portal on the following links:

January 21, February 21, March 21 & April 21 https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-015939

May 21 & June 21 – https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-18005

July 21 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-018101

August 21 & September 21- https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-19173

October 21 & November 21 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-20253

December 21 -https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-23358

January 22 & February 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-25450

January 22 & February 22 https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-25479

March 22 &April 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-25541

May & June 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-27707

July 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-27738

August 22 & September-22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-29892

October 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-30961

November 22 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-30997

December 22 to February 23 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01103

March 2023 - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01186

April to June 2023 Pharm - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01426

These published FOIs cover data from April 2021 - June 2023. These are copies of the MIS report with the Methadone and Controlled Drugs fees removed. This will answer the request, but you will have to add the values across a row to get the totals asked for.

A copy of the remaining information is attached.

Caveats

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

Source System – Insight Data Warehouse.

Time period

July, August & September 2023

This dataset

FOI 01579 has 3 files – July, August & September 2023

This report consists of a management information file detailing monthly Community Pharmacy payments by type of payment and contractor account. Payments include all drug costs, fees, patient charges, locally authorised payments, etc. 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 Boards (ICBs) structure at the relevant payment date.

Fees for Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs

Please note that payment information for Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs is not included in the attached data, or at the data located at the above web links.

The information you requested is being withheld as it falls under the exemptions set out in the following sections of the FOIA. Section 31 which relates to law enforcement has also been applied which should have been engaged when responding to your initial request.

Section 31 – Law Enforcement Section 38(1) – Health and Safety

The below links sets out these exemptions in full.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/31 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/38

As disclosure of information under FOIA is to the public/world at large, the NHSBSA considers this to include individuals who would use this information for a variety of reasons. Some individuals could be motivated to use the disclosure of this information which reveals which pharmacies dispense controlled drugs prescriptions to target pharmacy staff and wholesaler delivery drivers and attack them to obtain supplies of controlled drugs. This may also affect the safety of patients and customers of those pharmacies.

Disclosure of information which helps to identify pharmacies which dispense controlled drugs would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime. This is due to the likelihood of the information being used to identify which pharmacies should be targeted, either during or outside business hours.

In applying this exemption, we have balanced the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosing the information.

See the below factors considered when deciding that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Factors in Favour of Disclosure

• Public accountability

Factors in Favour of Withholding

• Disclosure would mean staff will be at a higher risk of physical attack from persons seeking to obtain controlled drugs by force or intimidation. • Patient safety may also be put at risk by the above. • Theft of drugs would cause disruption to the pharmacy, and impact on provision of important medication. • Theft of drugs could impact on patient health if the drugs aren’t readily available at the point of collection.

Reasons why public interest favours withholding information

I consider that the public accountability in releasing this information exactly as requested is outweighed by the potential detrimental effect on the safety of pharmacy staff and their patients.

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01579