Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I’m requesting the following information on the number of times pharmacists have supplied medicines using serious shortage protocols.

Please can you provide a breakdown of the number of claims for reimbursement made by community pharmacy contractors after supplying medicines in line with each Serious Shortage Protocol:

o SSP047 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 250mg tablets

o SSP046 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 250mg/5ml oral solution sugar free

o SSP045 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 250mg/5ml oral solution

o SSP044 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 125mg/5ml oral solution sugar free

o SSP043 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 125mg/5ml oral solution

o SSP042 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 250mg/5ml oral solution

o SSP041 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 250mg/5ml oral solution sugar free

o SSP040 Phenoxymethylpenicillin 125mg/5ml oral solution sugar free

o SSP039 Atorvastatin (Lipitor)20mg chewable tablets

o SSP038 Estraderm MX 75mcg patches substitution

o SSP037 Estraderm MX 50mcg patches substitution

o SSP036 Estraderm MX 100mcg patches

o SSP035 Estraderm MX 25mcg patches

o SSP034 Combisal 125mcg/25mcg inhalers

o SSP033 Paracetamol 120mg suppositories

o SSP032 Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 10mg chewable tablets

o SSP031 Estradiol (Sandrena) 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets substitution and restriction

o SSP030 Estradiol (Sandrena) 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets substitution

o SSP029 Estradiol (Sandrena) 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets restriction

o SSP028 Estradiol (Lenzetto)1.53mg/dose transdermal spray substitution and restriction

o SSP027 Estradiol (Lenzetto)1.53mg/dose transdermal spray substitution

o SSP026 Estradiol (Lenzetto)1.53mg/dose transdermal spray restriction

o SSP025 Estriol (Ovestin 1mg cream) 0.1% cream substitution and restriction

o SSP024 Estriol (Ovestin 1mg cream) 0.1% cream substitution

o SSP023 Estradiol (Oestrogel Pump-Pack 0.06% gel) 0.06% gel

o SSP022 Estradiol (Oestrogel Pump-Pack 0.06% gel) 0.06% gel

o SSP021 Premique low dose 0.3mg/1.5mg modified-release tablets

o SSP020 Ovestin 1mg cream restriction

o SSP019 Oestrogel Pump-Pack 0.06% gel restriction

o SSP018 Salazopyrin 500mg tablets

o SSP017 Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 20mg chewable tablets

o SSP016 Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 10mg chewable tablets

o SSP015 Paracetamol 120mg and 240mg suppositories

o SSP014 Salazopyrin 500mg EN tablets

o SSP013 Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 20mg chewable tablets

o SSP012 Estradot 75microgram patches

o SSP011 Competact 15mg/850mg tablets

o SSP010 Levothyroxine 12.5microgram tablets

o SSP009 Fluoxetine 40mg capsules

o SSP008 Salazopyrin 500mg EN tablets

o SSP007 Fluoxetine 30mg capsules

o SSP06 Fluoxetine 40mg capsules

o SSP005 Fluoxetine 10mg tablets

o SSP04 Haloperidol (Serenace) 500 microgram capsules

o SSP03 Fluoxetine 40mg capsules

o SSP02 Fluoxetine 30mg capsules

o SSP01 Fluoxetine 10mg capsules

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.

If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined, I would be grateful for any further advice and assistance.

Response

A copy of the information is attached.

Caveats

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 was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

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.

Organisation Data

Only items that were dispensed in the community in England have been included

Time Period

October 2019 to October 2022 inclusive

SSP

Limited to items where an SSP payment was made.

For information on SSP fees see the Drug Tariff part IIIA clause 2 C and for endorsement requirements see Part II Clause 9.

Note that the drugs given are those dispensed, we do not hold data on which drug was prescribed for items where an SSP payment was made.

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

The BNF Code is a 15 digit code in which the first seven digits are allocated according to the categories in the BNF and the last 8 digits represent the medicinal product, form, strength and the link to the generic equivalent product. NHS Prescription Services has created pseudo BNF chapters, which are not published, for items not included in BNF chapters 1 to 15. The majority of such items are dressings and appliances which NHS Prescription Services has classified into four pseudo BNF chapters (20 to 23).

Note that there is no record of which SSP each item was claimed against. A list of the SSPs can be found on the NHSBSA website https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/serious-shortage-protocols-ssps

Prescription data accuracy

For detailed explanation of data accuracy please see the NHSBSA website

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/payments-and-pricing/how-we-process- prescriptions#:~:text=Prescription%20Processing%20Payment%20Accuracy%20(PPPA)&text=to%20dispensing%20contractors.,It%20measures%20the%20number%20of%20items%20sampled%20that%20were%20processed,should%20be%20processed%20financially%20accurate.