FOI-02814

#Request

_Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information for the years available 2000-2025:_

_1. The number of young women under 25 who were prescribed hormonal contraceptives (e.g., combined oral contraceptive pill, progestin-only pill)._

_2. Of these, how many prescriptions were recorded as being issued for non-contraceptive medical reasons, such as:_

• _Acne_

• _Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)_

• _Endometriosis_

• _Irregular or heavy menstruation_

• _Other gynaecological indications_

_3. If possible, please provide:_

• _A breakdown by age group (e.g., under 16, 16–18, 19–25)_

• _Any regional or prescribing setting breakdown (e.g., GP vs pharmacy)’_

On 15 May 2025 you clarified the following:

___Time Period___

_Please present the data by financial year, from April 2015 onwards._

___Question 1 – BNF Sub-Paragraphs___

_Yes, that is correct – I would like data on the number of relevant patients under the age of 25 prescribed presentations within:_

_Additionally, please include BNF 0703050 (Emergency Contraception) in the data._

___Question 2 – Clinical Indication___

_Understood – thank you for confirming that this information is not held._

___Question 3 – Age Bands___

_Please use the final age band as 19–24_

___Regional Breakdown___

_Please provide the data aggregated by the 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs)._

___Prescribing Setting___

Yes, your interpretation is correct. Please aggregate the patient counts by prescriber sub-type (doctor, nurse, pharmacist, etc.).

##Response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.

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.

__Time Period__
	
April 2015 - March 2025, presented as financial years.

__Patients__

Prescriptions are only considered if an NHS Number, age, and gender has been captured during NHSBSA processing. 96.88% of items on prescriptions within the limits of the dataset had an identified patient, with a recorded age and gender.

__Age__

Patient age is calculated at the point of prescribing. Patients with an unknown age have been excluded. Patients may appear in multiple age bands across a year.

__Gender__

Limited to patients whose gender is recorded in the NHSBSA's copy of the Patient Demographics Service (PDS) data as 'Female'.

__Organisation Data__	

The data provided is for prescriptions prescribed in England, presented at ICB level. Prior to, and including, the financial year 2020/2021, the dataset also shows some area teams.

__Drugs__

Limited to the following BNF Chapters:

070301 – Combined Hormonal Contraceptives

070302 – Progestogen-Only Contraceptives

070305 – Emergency Contraception

__Sub-Prescriber Type__

Patients may appear in multiple groups if they received the specified medication from multiple prescribing sources.

__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.

• Items supplied as part of a Pharmacy First consultation or service.

__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:
“NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2025” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ 

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 Prescription Services, contraceptive
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log