FOI-02782

Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

You asked us:

I am trying to understand the volume of packs issued from dentists as opposed to GPs for all Benzydamine products. I would like to see detail of molecule, dosage form and strength on a monthly basis. Please could you share dental prescribing data, dental dispensing data, dispensations by contractor.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 24 April 2025. 

We requested clarification for this request on 29 April 2025 for the following:

1.	Please can you confirm the full time period that they require this data? Currently, we have data available from April 2014 up until February 2025. 
  
2.	In regards to dosage and strength - our interpretation of this is that you would want the data to be aggregated by BNF presentation level- e.g Benzydamine 3% cream. Is this correct? 
  
3.	Also, we would like to confirm we don't hold any data in relation to molecule, so wouldn't be able to include this in the request. 
  
4.	We are able to provide the number of Benzydamine items prescribed by dentists (although we do not hold information on which practice has prescribed them), split by pack size and by the contractor who dispensed the item. Please can you let us know how you would like this data aggregated.

You responded to us on 29 April 2025:

1)	Monthly data over two years from Feb 2023 – Feb 2025

2)	Yes BNF presentation level

3)	No worries, BNF presentation level is perfect

4)	Please show the number of Benzydamine items prescribed by dentists, including BNF presentation level, pack size, contractor who dispensed the item, year and month

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 and notes explaining it 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 – 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- dental data has been provided for prescriptions dispensed by English pharmacy contractors and dispensing doctors only, please refer to 'Organisation Data' for more information). 

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
 
February 2023- February 2025- data is aggregated monthly.
 
Organisation Data

The data is at national prescribed level and is for all dental prescribing of the named chemical substances that have been prescribed in the community in England and dispensed anywhere in the UK.
 
Dataset
 
This data is limited to the number of items prescribed for the chemical substance Benzydamine (1203010E0), by dental practices. The data is aggregated monthly by the BNF Presentation originally prescribed and dispensed to the patient, the pack size dispensed and the name and address of the contractor who dispensed the prescription.
 
Dispensing Contractor

Indicates the contractor who dispensed the presentations listed.
A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example (C 01-Apr-20) against a contractor indicates that this organisation is closed as of the date stated. 
 
BNF

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) 
This data is formatted to whole numbers

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-02782 

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: “ePACT2 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: NHS Dental Services, epact2
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log