Request

Hello, thank you for fulfilling my previous FOI request at https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01754 Could I please request an update on the latest available figures for this since the data provided in the previous request. If data can include GP referrals for Pharmacy First which has essentially replaced GP CPCS then that would be great, please.

Date range: 01/01/2024 - 30/05/2024

Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and 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.

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.

Data Source

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

Time Period

January to April 2024 inclusive. Data was correct as held in the NHSBSA data Warehouse on 2nd July 2024.

Organisation Data

The data provided is limited to pharmacies using the CPCS service, and the minor illness or an urgent repeat medicine supply strands of the Pharmacy First service in the community in England.

Referral Organisation

Data is limited to where the referrer organisation type has been recorded as either 'GP_ONLINE' or 'GP_PRACTICE'.

Year_month

The year month relates to the payment schedule month, which is the month for which the activity is claimed for payment - but can also include assessments from the previous two month window under grace period arrangements. The majority of activity will have happened in the given month, some activity may be from earlier time periods with a late claim. For example 202401 (Jan 2024) means that data was submitted as a claim for January 2024 and was processed by the NHSBSA in February 2024.

GP Name, Address and Postcode

We do not hold the prescribing organisation. The data supplied is taken from the data as entered into the pharmacy contractor's point of care system in the field specified as ‘the name of the patient’s GP surgery (not mandatory). This can be the ODS code of the practice and not of the branch surgery.’

Request count

The number of times a fee has been paid to the contractor for CPCS or the minor illness or an urgent repeat medicine supply strands of the Pharmacy First service

Publishing this response

Please note that this information will be published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02020