Request

You asked us:

Could I request 2 separate datasets this time. The first dataset requirements are:

• Could you please provide the total cost (Net Ingredient Cost).
• Please provide the total cost broken down by BNF code, date and practice code.(i.e. cost for every single day using EPS, as opposed to aggregated monthly).
• Please break it down by GP practice code.
• We are only interested in chapter 23 of the drug tariff (BNF code begins with 23)
• We would like all available data from 1st November 2024

The second request may not be possible; I am not sure what how your datasets are structured. However, I would like to understand total cost for patients who have 0 spend in chapter 23 in the previous 12 months. This is assuming you have an id for each patient. So, the full request would be as follows:

• Could you please provide the total cost (Net Ingredient Cost).
• Please provide the total cost broken down by BNF code, date and practice code.(i.e. cost for every single day using EPS, as opposed to aggregated monthly).
• Please break it down by GP practice code.
• We are only interested in chapter 23 of the drug tariff (BNF code begins with 23)
• We would like all available data from 2021-12-01
• We would like spend for patients who have £0 spend for products within chapter 23 in the prior 12 months respective to that date

This is essentially to understand spend for new ostomates, as opposed to all ostomates.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on Thursday 29 May 2025.

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

On Thursday 05 June 2025 you clarified:

Thank you for getting back to me. Please find the responses to each point in red below:

Would you like us to provide aggregated monthly totals for paper forms instead? 
No, daily totals for EPS is fine.

Would you prefer data for English prescribing and dispensing only, or should we include prescriptions prescribed and dispensed anywhere? 
I did not think about this, thanks for bringing it up. Yes, English prescribing and dispensing only please.

Should we restrict the data to GP practice prescribing, or would you like us to include other settings (e.g. hospitals) as well? 
No, please include all settings, not just GP practice prescribing.

For EPS prescriptions, would you like us to use the dispensed date as the basis for breaking the data down, rather than the prescribed date or the date the prescription was submitted for payment? 
Please provide the prescribed date.

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, and a copy has been published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02879

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
The data source is the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

Time Period
The period differs for each dataset:

• In dataset 1, the data includes items dispensed between November 2024 and March 2025 inclusive.
• In dataset 2, the data includes items dispensed between December 2021 and March 2025 inclusive.

Dataset 2 patient cohort
In dataset 2, the data excludes any patients who have been prescribed one or more items of a product in BNF Chapter 23, between December 2020 and November 2021 inclusive.

Organisation Data
Limited to items prescribed and dispensed in England. Prescribing in any setting is included, where dispensed in the community.

Products
Restricted to products included in Chapter 23 of the BNF.

Prescription type
Limited to prescriptions issued under the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). The NHSBSA does not hold prescribed or dispensed dates for paper prescriptions, so these cannot be included in a daily breakdown. 91.7% of items prescribed for Chapter 23 items between December 2021 and March 2025 were issued via EPS.

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.
• Items prescribed on paper forms (this request includes EPS activity only)

Publishing this response

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

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net removed from the published response.

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-e the following statement: “Data Warehouse NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.