Request

I would like the annual prescription frequency in the UK of the medication called ulipristal 5 mg, also known as Esmya 5 mg. I would like to know how many patients have received this prescription annually. In the database accessible online I can find this information when filtering on: BNF description and then filtering for Esmya 5 mg, and Ulipristal 5 mg. Unfortunately this will take too long to look through if I have to assess the data on a monthly basis. Is it possible to provide me with the annual data and if possible per patient (as this is a medication that is prescribed in several courses)?

On 4 April 2024 you clarified the following:

In that case England alone will be enough as well. This is merely to show the prescription frequency per year in the last years since 2016 for the medication Ulipristal.

As to the clarifications needed: I cannot seem to find the annual prescription for individual medication in this link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/prescription-data/dispensing-data/prescription-cost-analysis-pca-data

I am indeed looking for aggregate data per year i.e. a patient count of those prescribed ulipristal 5 mg or Esmya 5 mg regardless of where it is dispensed (also if it is dispensed in Scotland). Preferably this would be the aggregate data of patients prescribed but if you only have the aggregate data of number of prescriptions that is also fine (as this is a medication that is prescribed several times per year to one person).

The second request is indeed double (the second one can be removed). I hope this further clarifies things and I look forward to your answer.

Response

A copy of the information is attached.

Total number of unique patients prescribed Ulipristal 5mg tablets (or the brand Esmya 5mg tablets) in England regardless of where dispensed in the community.

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

Calendar years - 2016 - 2023

Organisation Data:

The data is for prescriptions prescribed in England regardless of where dispensed in the community.

This dataset:

This dataset is limited to the number of unique patients prescribed Ulipristal 5mg tablets (or the brand Esmya 5mg tablets).

Patient Identification

Where patient identifiable figures have been reported they are based on the information captured during the prescription processing activities. Please note, patient details cannot be captured from every prescription form and based on the criteria used for this analysis, patient information (NHS number) was available for 92.15% of prescription items.

The patient count figures are based on a distinct count of NHS number as captured from the prescription image.

The figures for the number of identifiable patients should not be combined and reported at any other level than provided as this may result in the double counting of patients. For example, a single patient could appear in the results for multiple months.

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 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: “ePACT2, 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.