Request

You asked us:

I would like to make a new request under Freedom of Information with the same format, inclusions, groupings and caveats as a previous request you kindly dealt with for us. The previous request is 02449 and we would like the data to cover the period from November 24, December 24 and January 25.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 24 March 2025.

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.

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 Files:

Data has been presented in files split by month, and into 500,000 row .csv files. The files are named FOI02688_YEARMONTH_NUMBER, for example FOI02688_202501_001, FOI02688_202201_002 and so on. Each file has a row count at the bottom for reference.

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

Monthly data for January 2025 inclusive.

Prescribing

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed and prescribed in England. Prescribing has been split by Sub ICB Locations (SICBLs) and limited to prescribing within SICBLs.

Suppressions

Suppressions have been applied where items are lower than 5, for items and NIC and quantity for the following drugs and identified genders as per the sensitive drug list;

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 60401 (Female Sex Hormones & Their Modulators) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 60402 (Male Sex Hormones And Antagonists) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70201 (Preparations For Vaginal/Vulval Changes) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70202 (Vaginal And Vulval Infections) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70301 (Combined Hormonal Contraceptives/Systems) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70302 (Progestogen-only Contraceptives) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 80302 (Progestogens) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70405 (Drugs For Erectile Dysfunction) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

• When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70406 (Drugs For Premature Ejaculation) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

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: “Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. 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.