Request

I am a journalist researching the reported rise in Beta Blocker prescriptions in England over the last few years.

I wanted to find out whether this is true. I have looked through the data sets available on the NHSBSA website but unfortunately am unable to find the information I need.

I am hoping to see whether there is data available for prescription rates for the following drugs over the last 5 years:

Atenol (Tenormin)

Bisoprolol (Cardicor or Emcor)

Carvedilol

Labetalol

Propranolol

Solatol

Please could you let me know if this information is available for me to look through?

Response

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 have requested is available via our Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA):

2023/24 - https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-202324

2022/23 - https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-2022-23

2021/22 - https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-202122

2020/21 - https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-2020-21

2019 - https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-2019

Our PCA currently only goes up to 2023/24, with the 2024/25 publication scheduled to be released on Thursday 5 June 2025.

Additional data with a more granular breakdown is available in our English Prescribing Dataset (EPD):

English Prescribing Dataset (EPD) - Datasets - Open Data Portal

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full -

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

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-02855

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.