Request

You asked us:

I would like to please request the following under the Freedom of Information Act:

All of the following as annual data for the last 5 years please

% NHS prescriptions where the declaration has been physically signed by the patient

total number of NHS prescriptions issued 

of those, how many are claimed for free for one of the exemption reasons

of those, how many via the automated checks flag as being an invalid claim and generate an enquiry letter

of those, how many proceed to a PCN

of those, how many are: 1) paid, 2) successfully challenged, 3) remain unpaid after the deadline

how many unpaid PCNs are referred to debt collection agencies

how many staff are employed for the administration of invalid claims & PCNs

the cost of running the service administering invalid claims & PCNs

working hours of staff administering invalid claims & PCNs and whether staff rate of pay is higher out of standard business hours eg. for emails being responded to 7pm Sunday

total funds generated by PCNs and unpaid prescription charges pursued by this service

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 14 October 2025

On 21 October 2025, you clarified that

When referring to items that remain unpaid after the deadline, could you specify what is meant by "deadline"? 

fines that remain unpaid beyond the date indicated in the letter 

Could you clarify what is meant by "invalid claims" in the context of staff employed and service costs? 

prescriptions that NHSBSA have deemed to have been claimed as an exemption incorrectly 

Regarding the request for annual data over the last five years, should this be based on financial years or calendar years 

happy to receive either or both depending how information is stored 

Are you able to also provide: 

• this data split by gender?

• split by the exemption ticked?

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

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds some of 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.

Question 1: - % NHS prescriptions where the declaration has been physically signed by the patient

Following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA. This is because prescription forms may be signed by the patient, the patient's authorised representative, or the pharmacy. However, we are unable to determine which forms have been signed solely by the patient.

Question 2: - total number of NHS prescriptions issued.

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 from the Resource List section for each of the years requested using the following link:

Prescription Cost Analysis - England | NHSBSA

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

Question 3: - of those, how many are claimed for free for one of the exemption reasons.

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q3

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.

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 supplied as part of a Pharmacy First consultation or service.

Data Source

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

Time Period

September 2020 - August 2025

Prescription Data

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in England, where the charge status of the item is 'Exempt'.

Question 4: - of those, how many via the automated checks flag as being an invalid claim and generate an enquiry letter

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q4, 5 & 6

Question 5: - of those, how many proceed to a PCN

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q4, 5 & 6

Question 6: - of those, how many are: 1) paid, 2) successfully challenged, 3) remain unpaid after the deadline

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q4, 5 & 6

For part 3 of your question, the information is in the column titled ‘SCN Cases’.

Question 7: - how many unpaid PCNs are referred to debt collection agencies

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the requested information; however, the requested data contains information which could be used to avoid paying charges and therefore commit fraud.

This information is exempt under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA (law enforcement) as disclosure would prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Section 31 is a qualified, prejudice-based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed, but before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

Public Interest Test:

Considerations in favour of disclosure:

Public interest in openness and transparency of public authority dealings.

Contribute to public understanding of the NHSBSA’s procedures and actions regarding penalty charge notices.

Considerations against disclosure:

Public interest in avoiding prejudice to the prevention or detection of crime.

The legal duty to ensure that fraud is prevented against services provided by the NHSBSA.

Releasing the data would provide the public with information which could be used to avoid paying charges and therefore commit fraud.

There would be a financial impact to the NHS if correct charges are not being paid.

Conclusion:

The NHSBSA recognises that there is a public interest in disclosure of the information to promote transparency and assurance of NHSBSA's exemption checking service processes.

The NHSBSA releases Knowledge Base articles publicly which provide information and transparency regarding penalty charges:

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/category/?id=CAT-01005&parentid=

These Knowledge Base articles coupled with information already in the public domain contribute significantly to public transparency and understanding of the service.

You can find further information at the following links:

NHS Penalty Charges and Enquiry Letters: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-penalty-charges-and-enquiry-letters

How to challenge a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN): https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/respond-your-letter

How penalty charges are calculated: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/understanding-penalty-charges

However, with regard to the requested data, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, as more weight is afforded to the arguments outlined above to avoid prejudice to the prevention or detection of crime.

Please see the following link to view the section 31 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/31

Question 8: - how many staff are employed for the administration of invalid claims & PCNs.

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q8, 9 & 11

Question 9: - the cost of running the service administering invalid claims & PCNs.

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q8, 9 & 11

Question 10: - working hours of staff administering invalid claims & PCNs and whether staff rate of pay is higher out of standard business hours eg. for emails being responded to 7pm Sunday

Our office operates between 8:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday, and from 9:00am to 3:00pm on Saturdays. Both full-time and part-time staff work shifts scheduled within these hours. Overtime may occasionally be offered outside of standard hours, subject to operational needs, and is remunerated at an enhanced rate.

Question 11: - total funds generated by PCNs and unpaid prescription charges pursued by this service.

Please see the attached spreadsheet titled FOI-03260 Q8, 9 & 11

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-03260

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.

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.