Request

You asked us:

I am writing to request specific data on the private healthcare sector and private EPS numbers in the UK. If such data is available, I would greatly appreciate your assistance in directing me to it or possibly giving accesses to some data portals. The data I am searching for is:

Question 1:

Number of prescribers (by category) by year

Private

Secondary

Primary

Question 2:

Volume of prescriptions

Private

Secondary

Primary

You subsequently clarified your request as follows:

• Time period: 2020 to present

• Data is to be aggregated

• English prescribing data is required. Data for Wales and Ireland if possible.

• For private prescribers only Schedule 2 and 3 Control Drug data is available – this is still required

• For secondary prescribers: data for hospital trusts

• For primary prescribers: prescribing by GPs and any prescribing within a primary care setting

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your clarified request on 27 August 2024.

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

Our response

Private prescription EPS data and form count

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.

Please note that private prescribers are not set up for EPS.

Number of secondary prescribers

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. Hospitals are listed on the MDR organisational database, but hospital doctors (prescribers) are not so we are unable to provide the number of secondary care prescribers.

Number of primary prescribers

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

The information you requested is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/prescriber-details

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)

Advice and assistance

The spreadsheets available here list all prescribers and their organisation geography.

You can use a Pivot Table in Excel to show the number of times each prescriber appears by their code:

Select your data range: Highlight the ‘PRESCRIBER_CODE’ column.

1. Insert a Pivot Table:

o Go to the Insert tab.

o Click on PivotTable.

o Choose where you want the PivotTable report to be placed (e.g., a new worksheet).

1. Set up the Pivot Table:

o In the PivotTable Field List, drag PRESCRIBER_CODE to both the Rows and Values areas.

o The Values area will automatically default to Count of PRESCRIBER_CODE.

This will create a table that shows each unique prescriber code and the number of times it appears in your data.

Please note, a prescriber can appear more than once, for example a prescribing nurse can be listed at different practices.

Some of the 'practices' listed in the information are not traditional practices. They are other services which the Primary Care Organisation has set up as a practice, such as specialist units or out of hours services. These units are often indicated as having one prescriber linked to the practice however there may be more.

As with hospitals we do not capture prescribing by dentists as individual prescribers.

Remaining information

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

ePACT2 and NHS BSA Master Data Repository (MDR)

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.

Question 1

Number of Private Prescribers registered with the NHS Business Services Authority, as of 09/09/2024

Time Period:

September 2024 (inactive private prescribers are also included within the data, with effect from May 2020 onwards)

Data:

The data indicates the number of Private Prescribers registered on the NHS Business Services Authority’s Master Data Repository system, as of the 9th September 2024.

Active Prescribers refers to prescribers who are registered on the MDR organisational system at an ICB.

Inactive Prescribers refers to prescribers who are registered on the MDR organisational system, but with a date listed as left the ICB.

Question 2

Number of Items and Prescription Forms for prescriptions prescribed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, aggregated by EPS or Paper based submission within Primary, Secondary or Private care.

Time Period:

January 2020-June 2024 (most recent month of data available). Data is aggregated by calendar year/part year.

Caveats:

This dataset aggregates the number of items and prescription forms prescribed for EPS and Paper based prescriptions in Primary, Secondary and Private care.

Data:

The data covers prescriptions prescribed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and dispensed anywhere in the UK.

Please note that prescriptions prescribed in Wales and Northern Ireland will have been dispensed within England.

Secondary Care- data is limited to hospital prescribing that has been dispensed within the community only.

Private Care- data is limited to the prescribing of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 controlled drugs. At present, all prescribing for these presentations is submitted using paper-based prescription forms.

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

Forms indicate the number of prescriptions that have been prescribed over the respective time periods. A form count for private prescriptions is not available (N/A).

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

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: “ePACT2 and Master Data Repository (MDR), NHSBSA Copyright 2024” 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.