Request

You asked us:

Can I request the information previously supplied under FOI Request 27650 but for the period from may 2023 to the latest available month. In addition could I request the ID for the pharmacy/Dispensing appliance contractor that dispensed the prescription. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 1 May 2024.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information and notes explaining it 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.

Data Source

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

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.

Time Period

All prescribing from January 2015 – April 2023 was used to find prior prescribing, with first prescribing data between May 2023 and February 2024

Organisation Data

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

BNF Code

The BNF Code is a 15-digit code in which the first seven digits are allocated according to the categories in the BNF and the last 8 digits represent the medicinal product, form, strength and the link to the generic equivalent product. NHS Prescription Services has created pseudo BNF chapters, which are not published, for items not included in BNF chapters 1 to 15. The majority of such items are dressings and appliances which NHS Prescription Services has classified into four pseudo BNF chapters (20 to 23).

Drugs and appliances

Limited to BNF Section 2128, Anal Irrigation System

Only for the first prescription issued to a patient who have never received a prescription for any of these items in any other time periods

The NHSBSA does not hold data showing a patient’s first prescribing of a given drug. This has been calculated by excluding all patients with prescribing in BNF Section 2128 in the data Warehouse prior to May 2023. Patients first prescribing has been found using the prescribed date recorded on a prescription. If this has not been captured during processing (usually on a paper prescription) then the end of the month the prescription was claimed to be dispensed in is used. For a further tie break the first prescription is chosen by internal alphanumeric coding for prescriber, then dispenser, then drug/appliance name. From this the first prescribing the prescriber, dispenser and drug are shown.

Please note that if a patient has received more than one prescription for the same presentation in the same period from the same practice and dispenser, each of these prescriptions would be included.

Identified Patients

Prescriptions are only included in the data if an NHS number was captured during processing so patients with prescribing prior to May 2023 can be excluded. For the whole time period 90.81% of items on prescriptions within the limits of the dataset had an identified patient. For the data from May 2023 97.73% of items on prescriptions had an identified patient.

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 (NIC (£))

Net Ingredient cost (NIC) is the basic price of a drug as stated in Part II Clause 8 of the Drug Tariff but please note that where a price concession for items listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff has been agreed between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee the NIC will reflect the concession price rather than the Drug Tariff price.

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.

Reusing the data and copyright

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: “Prescription Services, 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.