FOI-03666

Thank you for your request for information about the following:
 
##Request 
 
You asked us: <br>
<i>I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to the NHS Pharmacy First Service (PFS), specifically the Clinical Pathways element of the service. 

Background and Context <br>
I note that NHS Frimley ICB (code D4U1Y) will be abolished on 31 March 2026, with its Hampshire wards — including the Rushmoor and Hart areas — transferring to NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (code QRL) from 1 April 2026. As a result, I am requesting data for both ICBs in order to capture the full geography of what will become a single commissioning area under NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB from April 2026. 

I am aware that a similar request was previously fulfilled by the NHSBSA (reference FOI-01863), which demonstrated that contractor-level Pharmacy First payment data can be extracted and released within the statutory cost threshold. I have structured this request to closely mirror that format to support efficient processing. 

Information Requested <br>
Please provide the following information for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 (Financial Year 2024/25), covering all pharmacy contractors whose host ICB is either: <br>
•	NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (code QRL), or <br>
•	NHS Frimley ICB (code D4U1Y) 

For each contractor, for each month within the above period, please provide: <br>
1.	Year and month of the data <br>
2.	Contractor ODS code (F code) <br>
3.	Contractor name (owner/legal entity name) <br>
4.	Contractor address, including postcode <br>
5.	Host ICB code and ICB name <br>
6.	Monthly fixed payment received under the Clinical Pathways element of the Pharmacy First Service (i.e. £0, £500, or £1,000 as applicable to the relevant threshold in force that month) <br>
7.	Total number of Clinical Pathway consultations paid for that contractor in that month <br>
8.	The contractor's assigned monthly consultation cap for that month, where held 

Where column (6) is not directly held as a categorical value, the payment amount itself (as per the PF_CP_MONTHLY_FIXED_PAY column used in FOI-01863) is acceptable as an equivalent, from which the tier can be derived. 

I note that the consultation fee rate changed during this period (from £15 to £17 per consultation from 1 April 2025 — outside the scope of this request) and that the monthly fixed payment threshold structure was £0 or £1,000 for the majority of FY 2024/25, with a tiered £500/£1,000 model introduced from June 2025 (also outside the scope of this request). I therefore anticipate the data for this period to be straightforward to extract using existing payment records. 

Format <br>
Please provide the data in Excel (.xlsx) or CSV format, with one row per contractor per month. This mirrors the format used in the FOI-01863 response. 

Clarification on Scope <br>
I am not requesting any personally identifiable patient data. All data requested relates to pharmacy contractors as organisations, not to individual patients or members of staff.<br> 
If the full request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the FOIA, I would ask that you: <br>
a) Confirm which elements of the request fall within the cost limit and provide those, and<br>
b) Advise how I might refine the remaining elements to bring them within scope</i>
 
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 8 March 2026.  
 
We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.  
 
##Our response 
 
Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.  
 
The information you requested is available on the NHSBSA website in different places. You can use the sources in the ‘Advice and Assistance’ section below to obtain your information. 
 
Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21 
 
##Advice and assistance 
 
##Contactor ODS code, name, ICB code, name, number of PFCP consultations 

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/pharmacy-and-appliance-contractor-dispensing-data  
 
##Monthly fixed payments have been published in the below FOI responses relating to the MIS report. 

April 2024 – June 2024: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02117  <br>
July 2024 – September 2024:  https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02405  <br>
October 2024 – December 2024: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02624  <br>
January 2025: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02654<br>
February 2025 – March 2025: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02908  
 
##Pharmacy First caps: data on contractor level caps 

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/dispensing-contractors-information/nhs-pharmacy-first-service-pfs

Tags: Pharmacy first
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log