FOI-02623

##Request

I would like to make a new request under Freedom of Information with the same format, inclusions, groupings and caveats as a previous request FOI-02425 and we would like the data to cover the period from October 24 to December 24. 

##Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.

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 Files

Data has been presented in files split by month, and into 500,000 row .csv files. The files are named FOI02623_YEARMONTH_NUMBER, for example FOI02623_202410_001, FOI02623_202410_002 and so on. Each file has a row count at the bottom for reference.

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	

Monthly data from October 2024 to December 2024 inclusive.

Prescribing	

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed and prescribed in England.
Prescribing has been split by Sub ICB Locations (SICBLs) and limited to prescribing within SICBLs.

BNF Code	

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).

Items	

Items shows the number of times a product appears on a prescription form not the quantity prescribed.

Total Quantity	

Total quantity is the number of items multiplied by the quantity prescribed. e.g. 2 items prescribed, one with a quantity of 2 and one with a quantity of 3, the total quantity would show as 5  (1 item x quantity of 2) + (1 item x quantity of 3)
	
Net Ingredient Cost (NIC(£))	

Net Ingredient cost (NIC) is the basic price of a drug as stated in Part II Clause 8 of the Drug Tariff but please note that where a price concession for items listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff has been agreed between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee the NIC will reflect the concession price rather than the Drug Tariff price.

Gender
Patient gender has been reported using the latest patient gender information held by the NHSBSA Information Services data warehouse at the time that the data was extracted. 

This uses information from either the most recent Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) message or from the last time that NHSBSA received data about the patient's gender from NHS Personal Demographics Service.  Gender is either: Male, Female, Not Known (where no information is held) or Indeterminate (where information is held which does not confirm either Male or Female).

Suppressions

Suppressions have been applied where items are lower than 5, for items and NIC and quantity for the following drugs and identified genders as per the sensitive drug list;

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 60401 (Female Sex Hormones & Their Modulators) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 60402 (Male Sex Hormones And Antagonists) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70201 (Preparations For Vaginal/Vulval Changes) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70202 (Vaginal And Vulval Infections) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70301 (Combined Hormonal Contraceptives/Systems) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70302 (Progestogen-only Contraceptives) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 80302 (Progestogens) and the gender identified on the prescription is Male

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70405 (Drugs For Erectile Dysfunction) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

When the BNF Paragraph Code is 70406 (Drugs For Premature Ejaculation) and the gender identified on the prescription is Female

Publishing this response

Please note that this information will be published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02623

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. 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: “Data Warehouse NHSBSA Copyright 2025” 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.


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Tags: NHS Prescriptions
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log