Request

Hello, thank you for fulfilling my previous request at https://applications.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/FOI/foiRequestDetail.do?bo_id=11591 Could I please request the same data, but for any newer months for which data is available? i.e. March 2022

Response

May and June 2022

Please note that June 2022 prescriptions were not held at the time you made your request. This information should be available in September 2022. Meanwhile, May 2022 data was still being processed at the time your request was received. Please submit a fresh request for May 2022 data when it becomes available in August 2022.

June and July 2021

This information was disclosed under earlier FOI requests, although we were not publishing our responses at that time.

The data for the above months has been published on our website at

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-25441

Due to the large size of the files we cannot email these to you.

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

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

Source System – ISP (National MIS Files)

Time Period

March and April 2022

A copy of the information has also been published in the link provided above, under the heading for “June and July 2021”. This has been produced in response to this current request. Please read the above notes under the heading for “June and July 2021” to ensure correct understanding of the data.

This report consists of a management information file detailing monthly Community Pharmacy and Appliance Payments by type of payment and contractor account. Payments include all drug costs, fees, patient charges, locally authorised payments, etc. Other details such as the numbers of items dispensed, patient’s charges collected are also included.

The management information file reflects the contractor's payment and prescription data associated with the sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) structure at the relevant payment date.

The data contained within the files can be interpreted correctly by using the ‘MIS Glossary’ available under ‘Management Information Spread sheet (MIS) Report’ at

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/information-services-portal-isp/isp-report-information

Appliance Contractors data within the MIS Report shows data for the following month. (E.g. MIS Report for December 20 will show January 21 Appliance Contractor data).

The data in column METHADONE PAYMT and ADD FEE-2E within the Pharmacy dataset have been removed following Information Governance policy.

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:

“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.