Request

You asked us:

‘Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I was wondering if you would be able to develop on top of the FOI Request FOI-01537, FOI-01681 and FOI-01795.

BNF Chapter 20-22 and Chapter 23: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01537 (April 2023 - September 2023) https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01681 (October 2023 - November 2023) https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01795 (December 2023 - January 2024)

The data in these requests were from the data source ‘NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse’ with the Columns YEAR_MONTH, PRACTICE_CODE, DISPENSER_CODE, BNF_CHAPTER_CODE, BNF_CODE, PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER, PACK_ORDER_NUMBER, EPD_BNF_20_21_22, EPD_BNF_23, AC_FLAG, ENG_PRESC_BNF20_23, NIC_GBP, ITEMS and TOTAL_QUANTITY.

Would it be possible for the data to be limited to prescribing within BNF Chapter 20 - Dressings, Chapter 21 – Appliances and Chapter 22 – Incontinence Appliances, Chapter 23 - Stoma Appliances, limited to England, Wales, Scotland, Guernsey, Alderney, Jersey, and the Isle of Man. 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.

Could we have the same caveats so that the data matches with the English Prescribing Dataset (EPD). Would it be possible to have the data in the same format for February 2024, March 2024 and April 2024 or to the latest possible month please?

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.

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.

Please note drugs flagged in our database as Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs have been excluded from this dataset for information security reasons to prevent the identification of organisations with high levels of controlled drug dispensing.

Time Period

February 2024 to April 2024 was requested but as we only have February data available this is all that has been provided.

ORGANISATION

For data for this request FOI 01900 (a rerun of FOI 01795) to match the EPD, filter on the EPD_Flag.

BNF CODE

The 11 characters at the beginning of a BNF code which specifies a Product (generic or branded) but not its strength or formulation.

PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER and PACK_ORDER_NUMBER: If this is not held in our database then it will be blank.

ITEMS

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

NIC_GBP

The cost of the supplied item(s) calculated from the reimbursement price held on the NHSBSA master database. Given in Pounds Stirling.

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)

EPD_FLAG

When this says 'EPD' the data is included in the English Prescribing dataset on our open data portal. This means the prescriptions were prescribed in England by GP practices/cost centres, dispensed in England, Jersey, Guernsey/Alderney, IOM, Wales, Scotland.

A link to the EPD https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-prescribing-data-epd

ACCOUNT_TYPE

Categorises the dispensing contractor according to country and type of contractor.

BNF_APPLIANCE_FLAG

Indicates if the presentation is categorised in the BNF chapters 20-23.

EPD_BNF_20_21_22

Indicates that the prescription is included in the English Prescribing dataset and the presentation is categorised in the BNF chapters 20-22.

EPD_BNF_23

Indicates that the prescription is included in the English Prescribing dataset and the presentation is categorised in the BNF chapter 23.

ENG_PRESC_BNF20_23

Indicates the prescription was prescribed in England, and the presentation is categorised in the BNF chapters 20-23. This is not limited by the type of prescribing organisation or the dispensing location.

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.