Request

You asked us:

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of information Act 2000.

The number of patients taking either pitolisant, modafinil, methylfenidate, dexamfetamine, sodium oxybate or solriamfetol for the treatment of:

• ‘Narcolepsy’ (recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis)

• ‘Hypersomnia’ (recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis)

• ‘Narcolepsy and cataplexy’

If possible please could the patients be stratified by age.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 1 May 2024, and on 15 May 2024 you clarified your request with the following:

Please could the search cover the time period from 2021-now and the geography ‘English dispensing’.

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

Our response

Patient Condition

I have established that the information you requested on patient condition is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority. No data is captured relating to the clinical indication a prescription is intended for. We hold data on which drugs have been prescribed, but not the condition it was prescribed to treat.

Solriamfetol

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority. Data was searched for drugs with the VMP name of 'Solriamfetol 150mg tablets' and 'Solriamfetol 75mg tablets' with no data found.

Remaining Information

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.

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

January 2021 to March 2024 inclusive

Organisation Data

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in England.

Drugs

Drugs are limited to the following BNF Chemical Substance; Dexamfetamine sulfate - 0404000L0, Dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride - 0404000T0, Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate - 0404000U0, Methylphenidate hydrochloride - 0404000M0, Modafinil - 0404000R0, Pitolisant hydrochloride - 0404000W0 & Sodium oxybate - 0401010AC.

Recorded age

Patient age is as captured during NHSBSA processing. Where an age has not been recorded -1 is used. Patients will appear in more than one age if they have prescribing in more than one age during the time period and therefore patient counts should not be added but only used in the context of this request.

Patient counts

Data is limited to where an NHS Number was recorded during NHSBSA processing. Within this dataset 88.89% of items had an NHS number recorded. Patients may appear in more than one chemical substance so counts should not be added.

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: “NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse, 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.