Request

May I request the pharmacy openings and closures data in monthly rows for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. This data has already been published for 2021 and 2022 in monthly rows on the opendata portal - https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/pharmacy-openings-and-closures . Thank you.

Request

A copy of the information is attached.

The pharmacy opening and closures data set shows the numbers of pharmacies in England that are included on a Pharmaceutical List held by NHS England on the last calendar day of each month, and so can provide NHS prescriptions and pharmaceutical services. These are split into three groups by the number of premises in each pharmacy group: small (1-5), medium (6-99) and large (100+) pharmacy groups. This data set also separately includes figures for pharmacies subject to the 100 hours condition and distance selling pharmacies.

Pharmacies which have changed ownership will be counted as a closure with a new pharmacy opening on the next day, however this doesn’t affect the net change figures. ‘Opened’ means pharmacies that have joined a Pharmaceutical List and started providing NHS services between the first and last calendar day of the month; and ‘closed’ means pharmacies that have been removed from a list and have ceased providing NHS services between first and last calendar day of the month.

Data is as accurate as the data held by the NHSBSA data warehouse on 3rd February 2023. Total figures may not agree month-to-month due to openings and closures resulting in pharmacies changing group size or where backdated amendments are made.

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.

Time Period

January 2015 to December 2020

Total Pharmacies

The total count of all pharmacies open on that date, including distance sellers, excluding appliance contractors.

Total Pharmacies excluding Distance Sellers The total count of all pharmacies open on that date, excluding distance seller pharmacies and appliance contractors. This number should be equal to the number of small, medium and large pharmacies. Please note that the distance seller flag was not active prior to April 2016 and so data prior to this is either incomplete or not available.

Distance Selling Pharmacies

The total count of distance seller pharmacies. This number should be equal to total pharmacies minus total pharmacies excluding distance sellers. Please note that the distance seller flag was not active prior to April 2016 and so data prior to this is either incomplete or not available.

Total 100-Hour Pharmacies

The total count of pharmacies that are open on a 100-hour contract. These may be small, medium or large pharmacies. Please note that the 100-hour flag was not active prior to 31st March 2018 and so the data prior to this is not available.

Small

The total count of pharmacies open on that date that are either independent (single pharmacy site) or in a chain of fewer than 6 sites. This excludes distance seller pharmacies.

Medium

The total count of pharmacies open on that date that are part of a chain made up of between 6 and 99 sites. This excludes distance seller pharmacies.

Large

The total count of pharmacies open on that date that are part of a chain made up of 100 or more sites. This excludes distance seller pharmacies.

Total Pharmacies excluding Distance Sellers Opened

The total number of pharmacies not including distance sellers that have opened since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies open on the day after the previous reporting date up to those opened on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Total Pharmacies excluding Distance Sellers Closed

The total number of pharmacies not including distance sellers that have closed since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies closed on the day after the previous reporting date up to those closed on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Pharmacies excluding Distance Sellers Net Change

The difference between total pharmacies opened and total pharmacies closed. If this number is positive, this means that there are more pharmacies open on the reporting date than the previous reporting date. If this is negative, this means there are fewer pharmacies open than on the previous reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Small Pharmacies Opened

The total number of small pharmacies that have opened since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies open on the day after the previous reporting date up to those opened on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Small Pharmacies Closed

The total number of small pharmacies that have closed since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies closed on the day after the previous reporting date up to those closed on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Small Net Change

The difference between small pharmacies opened and small pharmacies closed. If this number is positive, this means that there are more pharmacies open on the reporting date than the previous reporting date. If this is negative, this means there are fewer pharmacies open than on the previous reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0. If a pharmacy group of 5 pharmacies opens another site, this opening will be classed as a medium pharmacy and the current 5 pharmacies will be removed from the small count and into the medium count. Likewise, if a group of 6 pharmacies closes one site, they will be removed from the medium pharmacies and the 5 remaining sites will be added to the small pharmacies. Therefore the total small pharmacies last month plus the small net closures may not equal the total small pharmacies this month.

Medium Pharmacies Opened

The total number of medium pharmacies that have opened since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies open on the day after the previous reporting date up to those opened on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Medium Pharmacies Closed

The total number of medium pharmacies that have closed since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies closed on the day after the previous reporting date up to those closed on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Medium Net Change

The difference between medium pharmacies opened and medium pharmacies closed. If this number is positive, this means that there are more pharmacies open on the reporting date than the previous reporting date. If this is negative, this means there are fewer pharmacies open than on the previous reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0. If a pharmacy group of 99 pharmacies opens another site, this opening will be classed as a large pharmacy and the current 99 pharmacies will be removed from the medium count and into the large count. Likewise, if a group of 100 pharmacies closes one site, they will be removed from the large pharmacies and the 99 remaining sites will be added to the medium pharmacies. This may also happen between medium and small, where changes result in chains becoming larger or smaller than the cutoff between these categories. Therefore the total medium pharmacies last month plus the medium net closures may not equal the total medium pharmacies this month.

Large Pharmacies Opened

The total number of large pharmacies that have opened since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies open on the day after the previous reporting date up to those opened on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Large Pharmacies Closed The total number of large pharmacies that have closed since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies closed on the day after the previous reporting date up to those closed on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Large Net Change

The difference between large pharmacies opened and large pharmacies closed. If this number is positive, this means that there are more pharmacies open on the reporting date than the previous reporting date. If this is negative, this means there are fewer pharmacies open than on the previous reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0. If a pharmacy group of 99 pharmacies opens another site, this opening will be classed as a large pharmacy and the current 99 pharmacies will be removed from the medium count and into the large count. Likewise, if a group of 100 pharmacies closes one site, they will be removed from the large pharmacies and the 99 remaining sites will be added to the medium pharmacies. Therefore the total medium pharmacies last month plus the medium net closures may not equal the total medium pharmacies this month.

Distance Sellers Opened

The total number of distance sellers that have opened since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies open on the day after the previous reporting date up to those opened on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Distance Sellers Closed

The total number of distance sellers that have closed since the previous reporting date. This includes pharmacies closed on the day after the previous reporting date up to those closed on the current reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0.

Distance Sellers Net Change

The difference between distance sellers opened and distance sellers pharmacies closed. If this number is positive, this means that there are more pharmacies open on the reporting date than the previous reporting date. If this is negative, this means there are fewer pharmacies open than on the previous reporting date. Where a pharmacy has been taken over, this will appear in both the openings and closures table as the pharmacy is under new management, with a net change of 0. Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-32012