FOI-03560

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 
 
##Request 
 
You asked us: 
 
<i>For the Pharmacy First Service <br>
Since the beginning of the service<br>
For England

Month of submission<br>
Patients registered Practice ODS Code<br>
Medication Provided at Presentation level<br>
Pharmacy First Pathway undertaken<br>
Qty of medication provided<br>
Count of pathway consultations where no medication was provided</i>
 
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 27 January 2026.

We requested clarification on 19 February 2026:

<i>I am writing to ask you to clarify your request. This is because we need further details from you in order to identify and locate the information. 
 
Therefore I would be grateful if you would confirm when you say “Count of pathway consultations where no medication was provided” would you like this as a total, separate count or included as an item count split by ODS code, complete with pathway undertaken.</i>

We received your response on 23 February 2026:

<i>I would like the latter

“included as an item count split by ODS code, complete with pathway undertaken.“ 

So each ODS code has a figure for the number of consultations that were undertaken in each pathway each month where no medication was provided.</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.

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 is the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.

##Exclusions
The Data excludes Pharmacy First consultations where the claim was not paid.

##Redactions
In the interests of patient confidentiality all consultation counts between 1 and 4 inclusive have been redacted and replaced with an asterisk (*).

##Files provided:
Six files are provided; one set (of five files) is aggregated to practice level, split into 6-monthly time bands. The sixth file is aggregated at ICB level and covers the whole time period.

##Time Period
Pharmacy First consultations that were claimed for payment between February 2024 and January 2026 inclusive.

##Organisation Data
The ODS Code is as recorded by the Pharmacist as part of the Pharmacy First consultation giving the patient's GP Practice. The only validation applied is to check that these codes appear in our data warehouse and can be applied to an organisation in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The GP Practice Name, ICB Code and ICB name are all derived from the ODS code and are therefore subject to the same limitations. 
 
##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, 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: Pharmacy first
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log