Request

Following receipt of my FOI Request 19185 could you please provide the same data set for the month of October 2021 but now also including the ICS where the item was dispensed.

Response

A copy of the information is attached.

In some cases, in Microsoft Excel, E is interpreted in text as scientific notation, for example 01E00 shown as 1.00E+00. Please see the following guidance in these circumstances:

• Open a new Excel
• go to Data – From Text
• select the csv file you require
• leave format as delimited
• next
• Comma
• next
• highlight the CCG column
• change to text
• highlight column with the odd formatting
• change to text
• finish

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.

Time Period - October 2021

Data Contents - Data shows products dispensed by month and dispenser from BNF chapters 20,21, 22 or 23. This has been limited to the specified dispensers in your request. The Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) is given in Pounds Stirling and is the total for the appliance (by SNOMED ID) for the dispenser in the specified month.

PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER and PACK_ORDER_NUMBER - If this is not held in our database, then this will be blank.

Exclusions

• 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.

ICS Data

NHS Integrated Care System (ICS) information is not stored in our database. The equivalent level of English NHS organisation hierarchy that is available is the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) grouping.

The STP for any dispensing contractor code can be found in the NHS BSA Information Service Portal in the Reports Section. Under Section 21 of the Act, 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 web link https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/access-our-data-products/information-services-portal-isp

Select ‘Common Information Reports’

• then ‘Organisation Data’

• then ‘Contractor Details’

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact dataandinsightsupport@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. 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: “NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2022” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

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.