Request

I want a complete list of all Pharmacies in United Kingdom that have ordered Drug Tariff Special Order / Special Order / Part VIIID Drugs / Generics / Branded Medicines along with their details.   Following are the details required : 1. Month of order 2. Region Code    3. Region 4. Code 5. Pharmacy / Doctor dispensing code 6. Pharmacy Name 7. Pharmacy Trading Name 8. Pharmacy Area Code 9. Area 10. County 11. Pharmacy Postcode 12. Contractor Type 13. Contractor Name 14. Type of Items - Drug Tariff Special Order Products / Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order Products / Special Order Products / Generics / Branded Medicines 15. Number of items ordered   Time Period : June 2023 to latest month available.

On 27 March 2024 you clarified the following:

We need data of the special order items that have been actually been dispensed by the pharmacies to the patients.

We would like to have the details of the generic drugs without brand details. In this example, we would want the details of all medicines of Paracetamol irrespective of the make or brand.

On 11 April 2024 you further clarified:

Can confirm that you are looking for updated data in the same format as your previous FOI FOI-01261 https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01261? - Yes. Just few additional fields as mentioned.   Please can you clarify what you mean by the following fields within your request? 4. Code - You confirmed that you meant the dispenser code 8./9. Pharmacy Area Code/Area- we have inferred that you meant the post code of the dispenser, based on your response saying ‘I meant region code. As is the Pin Code. For example IPS Pharma is located in KT8 2QZ so 'KT8 2QZ' Is the code that I want in corresponding to the appropriate pharmacy.’ 13. Contractor Name- You confirmed that you meant the Pharmacy contractor only.
14. Brand/Generic dispensing- You confirmed you wanted "Special Obtains, Drug Tariff and Generics. 

On the 17 April you clarified that you wanted data relating to Special Order Products and DT Special Order Products.

Response

A copy of the information is attached.

NHSBSA

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 – 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: June 2023-January 2024

Organisation Data

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors and English Dispensing Doctors in the community in England regardless of where it was prescribed. A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example ( C 14-Jun-23 ) against Pharmacy Name or Dispensing Doctor indicates that this organisation is closed or will close as of the date stated.

Contractor Type

This categorises the Dispensing Contractor according to if it is one of a particular pharmacy chain, a single or multiple pharmacy.

Please note the Contractor Type is based on what it was in the actual month as opposed to showing the latest Contractor Type.

Contractor Types only apply to English Pharmacy Contractors.

Dataset

This data is limited to the dispensing of Special Order Products, Drug Tariff Special Order Products and Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order Products dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors or Dispensing Doctors in the community in England.

Please note:

With effect from March 2022 prescriptions, there is an addition to the Drug Tariff when Drug Tariff Special Order Products VIIID was added. (Ref. Drug Tariff Part VIIID Arrangements for payment for Specials and Imported Unlicensed Medicines with Prices Determined Relative to Commonly Identified Pack Size). These are labelled Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order.

Drug Tariff Special Order Products listed in the Drug Tariff as Part VIIIB (Ref. Drug Tariff Part VIIIB - Arrangements for payment for Specials and Imported Unlicensed Medicines with a Price Per Unit Above a Minimum Quantity) continue to be labelled as Drug Tariff Special Order.

This addition of Part VIIID means that certain products formerly categorised as Special Order / Drug Tariff Special Order products are now categorised as Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order.

If the contractor has moved premises and therefore has a different postcode, the contractor will show in the data for each postcode.

Items

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