Request

Please could I request an update to part of an FOI previously published here which covered prescribing from 2016 to 2022. I would like the same information for calendar years 2023-2025. The previous FOI reference is 32073 and I am requesting an update to "part 1" which was as follows:

"I would like to request the number of unique identifiable patients who have been prescribed certain types of melatonin AND who have also been prescribed certain types of ADHD medication in the same calendar month, broken down by 5 specific age brackets.

I would like to request the following information:

Information on melatonin prescribing in patients who are also pharmacologically treated for ADHD. Time period requested: 2023 to 2025 as whole calendar years, and also each data month individually for the same period. Reporting level requested: National (England). Please indicate which sources have been included.

Values requested: Counts of unique identifiable patients

Patient age brackets: 2-5, 6-10, 11-17, 18-54, 55+

Format requested: .csv or .xlsx

Please use the same groupings as before vis:

Subject medicine groups

A Circadin (or generically-prescribed equivalent)

B Any Immediate Release melatonin (IR)

C Slenyto or (generically-prescribed equivalent)

Co-prescribed medicine group

1 any stimulant ADHD medication (methylphenidate, dexamfetamine, lizdexamfetamine)

2 any Immediate Release stimulant ADHD medication

3 any Prolonged or Modified Release stimulant ADHD medication

4 any Non-stimulant ADHD medication (guanfacine, atomoxetine)

5 guanfacine – ie Modified Release non-stimulant ADHD

6 atomoxetine - ie Immediate Release non-stimulant ADHD

I am attaching a list of BNF codes for convenience, this list may contain some codes which have not been prescribed recently but that will not affect the results as I am requesting counts against groups of codes, rather than any individual code. If you identify any other BNF codes which should be included in the definitions above, I would like you to include them in the query and note this in your response.

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 Prescription Services process prescriptions and information is then used to make payments to pharmacists and appliance contractors (in England) for prescriptions dispensed in primary care settings. This involves processing approximately 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 users.

Data Source:

NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

Contents:

Data on co-prescribing of drug groups as supplied by the requestor.

Time Period:

The data covers the period January 2016 to December 2025 and is displayed by month and by calendar year, separately.

Organisation Level:

The data is shown for prescribing in England, in any setting, where dispensed in the community.

Age Bands:

The data is shown for age bands based upon patient age as captured from the prescription form during processing. Note that for co-prescribing to be counted, the age must be the same in both medicine groups.

Patient counts:

Patients who could not be identified by means of a valid NHS number on the prescription, or who have no age or an age of under 2 recorded on the prescription, are excluded.

Of all relevant items prescribed in the time period, 88.27% have an age and valid NHS number.

The figures for the number of identifiable patients should not be combined and reported at any other level than provided as this may result in the double-counting of patients.

Please note a small proportion of prescribing for melatonin 5mg capsules has been processed as unspecified presentations, from September 2020 data onwards, which may have a minimal impact on the number of patients recorded against Subject Medicine Group B in the data.

The data excludes items dispensed in prisons, hospital and private prescriptions but does include dental, prison and hospital prescriptions which are dispensed in the community.

If a prescription was issued, but not presented for dispensing or was not submitted to NHSBSA Prescription Services by the dispenser, then it is not included in the data provided.

Please note:

While completing this request, we identified that one of the BNF codes provided in the original FOI request (FOI 32073), contained an error. The Chemical Substance BNF code supplied for Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate was listed as 04040000U0, but the correct code is 0404000U0 (one fewer zero).

We have therefore corrected this error and rerun the earlier time period using the correct BNF code to ensure consistency and accuracy. The updated results are included within this 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 2026”. 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.