Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information: For each Pharmacy Contractor for the last 12 months, broken down monthly: - Contractor Name, Contractor Number and GP Practice Code with number of prescriptions for Menthol 1% in Aqueous Cream dispensed each month. Thank you for you email. Please see my responses to you queries below:

On 12 October 2022 you clarified your request as follows

1. Yes this is correct, the GP Practice where this was prescribed if possible

2. Yes please, I would like to see all linking brands and generically prescribed products

3. Please could these be displayed as separate products

Thank you Your request was received on 26 September 2022 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

A copy of the information is attached. Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

NHSBSA

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 – ePACT2

Data in ePACT2 is sourced from the NHSBSA Data Warehouse and is derived from products prescribed on prescriptions and dispensed in the Community. The data captured from prescription processing is used to calculate reimbursement and remuneration. It includes items prescribed in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey and Isle of Man which have been dispensed in the community in England. English prescribing that has been dispensed in Wales, Scotland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey and Isle of Man is also included. 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.

Time Period

September 2021 – August 2022 (monthly)

Organisation Data

The data provided is for prescriptions prescribed at a GP practice and dispensed by a pharmacy contractor in the community in England. A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example (C 01-FEB-22) against Pharmacy name indicates that this organisation is closed as of the date stated.

Dataset

This data is limited to the prescribing of Menthol 1% in Aqueous cream (including any equivalent brands) at a GP practice and dispensed by Pharmacy Contractors in the community in England.

Items

Items shows the number of times a product appears on a prescription form not the quantity prescribed.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foidata@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: “ePACT2, NHSBSA Copyright 2022” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open 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.