FOI-02931

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

##Request 

<p><i>‘I would like to request a re-run of a previous Freedom of Information request which you have kindly responded to. I would like to make a new request under the Freedom of Information Act, for the following data:</i></p> 

<p><i>The reference number for the previous request is 02831 and we would like a re-run of this for the latest data, i.e. for the month of April 2025.’</i></p> 

##[On 19 June 2025 you clarified your request as follows] 

<p><i>‘I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act, for the calendar month April 2025,  information on reimbursed prescriptions by dispenser code. I am looking for everything that has been dispensed in England.  I understand that controlled drugs will be omitted from the response.</i></p> 

<p><i>Please note that this request intentionally does not require both dispenser and prescriber code.</i></p> 

<p><i>The following fields ONLY are required:</i></p> 

<p><i>Date (Dispensed Year_Month)</i></p> 

<p><i>Dispenser code</i></p> 

<p><i>BNFID</i></p> 

<p><i>Quantity</i></p> 

<p><i>Items</i></p> 

<p><i>NIC’</i></p>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 18 June 2025, with clarification received on 19 June 2025.  

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). 

##Our 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 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. 

Please note data for drugs flagged in our database as Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs have been excluded from this dataset for information security reasons to prevent the identification of organisations with high levels of controlled drug dispensing. 

##Time Period 

April 2025. 

##Organisation Data 

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in England. 

##Data Queries 

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a> 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 <a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. 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 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. 

Tags: Dispensed Items, Dispenser code, NHS Prescriptions
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log