FOI-03787

##Request

You asked us:

<i>Please provide Special Order Products, Drug Tariff Special Order Products (Part VIIIB) and Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order Products dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors, in the same format as FOI-01261, for the period: June 2023 to January 2024 inclusive.</i>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 4 May 2026.

On 3 June 2026 you clarified that:

<i>Please use 1 January 2020 to 1 May 2026 period and provide the said information!</i>

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

##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.

Special Order Products, Part VIIIB Drug Tariff Special Order Products and Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order Products dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors (Distance Selling Contractors indicated) and English Dispensing Doctors in the community in England.

##NHSBSA
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 – ePACT2
Data in ePACT2 is sourced from the NHSBSA Data Warehouse and is derived from products prescribed on prescriptions and dispensed in the Community. The data captured from prescription processing is used to calculate reimbursement and remuneration. It includes items prescribed in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man which have been dispensed in the community in England. English prescribing that has been dispensed in Wales, Scotland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man is also included. 
(Please note- for this particular dataset- data has been provided for prescriptions dispensed by English pharmacy contractors and dispensing doctors only, please refer to 'Organisation Data' for more information). 

##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: January 2020-March 2026- data is aggregated over the full-time period.

##Organisation Data
The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors and English Dispensing Doctors in the community in England regardless of where it was prescribed. A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example ( C 03-Mar-26 ) against Pharmacy Name or Dispensing Doctor indicates that this organisation is closed or will close as of the date stated.

##Please note:
In April 2020, NHS England implemented a new regional structure which is reflected in our data. Regions that no longer exist in the structure are also indicated by the letter ‘C’ in brackets- example (C 01-Apr-20).
As the data for this FOI indicates the region each dispenser is located in and spans the time period of this restructure, some dispensers within the dataset are listed under two different regions. For example, dispenser A81066 is listed within the North of England and North East and Yorkshire.

##Contractor Type
This categorises the Dispensing Contractor according to if it is one of a particular pharmacy chain, a single or multiple pharmacy. 
Please note the Contractor Type is based on what it was in the actual month as opposed to showing the latest Contractor Type.
Contractor Types only apply to English Pharmacy Contractors.

##Dataset
This data is limited to the dispensing of Special-Order Products, Drug Tariff Special Order Products and Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order Products dispensed by English Pharmacy Contractors or Dispensing Doctors in the community in England.

##Please note:
With effect from March 2022 prescriptions, there is an addition to the Drug Tariff when Drug Tariff Special Order Products VIIID was added. (Ref. Drug Tariff Part VIIID Arrangements for payment for Specials and Imported Unlicensed Medicines with Prices Determined Relative to Commonly Identified Pack Size). These are labelled Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order.

Drug Tariff Special Order Products listed in the Drug Tariff as Part VIIIB (Ref. Drug Tariff Part VIIIB - Arrangements for payment for Specials and Imported Unlicensed Medicines with a Price Per Unit Above a Minimum Quantity) continue to be labelled as Drug Tariff Special Order.

This addition of Part VIIID means that certain products formerly categorised as Special Order / Drug Tariff Special Order products are now categorised as Part VIIID Drug Tariff Special Order.

If the contractor has moved premises and therefore has a different postcode, the contractor will show in the data for each postcode.

##Items
Items show the number of times a product appears on a prescription form, not the quantity prescribed.

##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: “Data Warehouse/ePACT2, NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. 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: NHS Presciption Services
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log