Thank you for your request for information about the following:

During the latest twelve month period for which statistics are readily available

a. How many prescriptions in total were issued each month?

b. How many individual items were prescribed each month?

c. How many prescriptions for repeat medication were issued each month?

d. How many separate items of repeat medication were prescribed each month?

e. Please state the period to which the answers relate. Repeat prescriptions and items are those issued on a regular basis for patients who require the same or similar medication over a prolonged period rather than one-off prescriptions for specific short term conditions.

I have been advised by my local CCG that you are the correct division to supply the information, and that the information requested should be available from something called EPACT.

Your request was received on 13th February 2024 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.

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.

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.

Data Source

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

Time Period

January 2023 to December 2023 inclusive

Organisation Data

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in the community in England.

Prescription Forms is the number of unique prescription form IDs

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

Repeat forms is the number of unique prescription form IDs where the prescription type is indicated as either repeat prescribing or repeat dispensing.

Repeat items is the number of items where the prescription type is indicated as either repeat prescribing or repeat dispensing.

Please note we only hold an indication of repeat prescribing on electronic prescription forms. Repeat dispensing is held on both paper and electronic forms.

Repeat Dispensing allows a patient to obtain repeat supplies of NHS prescriptions without the need for their GP practice to issue a prescription each time a supply is required. The GP can authorise a prescription with a specified number of ‘issues;’ each issue contains the same prescribed items and allows the prescriber to authorise and issue a batch of repeat prescriptions for use up to 12 months.

Repeat Prescribing is where the patient still needs to obtain an NHS prescription from their GP practice each time, they require their medication or appliances and data is only available via EPS messages. It requires the prescriber to select the appropriate treatment code indicating it is repeat prescribing and these figures should be used with caution.

Please note patients may receive items across multiple prescription forms for a single dispensing event.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foirequests@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 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 2024” 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.