Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

(In response to FOI-02239) ‘I need details on Pharmacies ordering Generic medicines as well.’

[On 5 November 2024 you clarified your request as follows]

‘I require an analysis of all generic dispensing to include all special orders, generic (no supplier captured) and generic (supplier captured) aggregated together, for the same time period as FOI-02239.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 23 October 2024, with clarification received on 5 November 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 is attached.

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

NHSBSA

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

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.

(Please note- for this particular dataset- data has been provided for prescriptions dispensed by English pharmacy contractors and dispensing doctors only, please refer to 'Organisation Data' for more information).

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

Monthly: January 2024 to July 2024.

Organisation Data

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors and English Dispensing Doctors in the community in England regardless of where it was prescribed. A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example ( C 14-Jun-23 ) against Pharmacy Name or Dispensing Doctor indicates that this organisation is closed or will close as of the date stated.

Contractor Type

This categorises the Dispensing Contractor according to if it is one of a particular pharmacy chain, a single or multiple pharmacy.

Please note the Contractor Type is based on what it was in the actual month as opposed to showing the latest Contractor Type.

Contractor Types only apply to English Pharmacy Contractors.

Dataset

This data is limited to the dispensing of generic items only.

Items

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

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 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.