FOI-03632

##Request

_Please can I request the following data:_

_For GP Practices in Wales_

_The total FP10 prescription spend and for each BNF Chapter_

_By GP Practice_

_By month_

_By gender_

_By each 5 year age bands 0-4,5-9 etc upto and including 85+ (85+as a single figure)_

_From May 22 to the latest month you have available_

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 24 February 2026. 

We then emailed to clarify your request, as the NHS Business Services Authority holds only a limited amount of prescribing data relating to GP practices in Wales, specifically for prescriptions dispensed in England. This dataset does not include complete prescribing activity for Welsh GP practices, and the age and gender breakdowns are not available to the level you have requested.

The full Welsh primary care prescribing dataset, including prescribing spend by GP practice, monthly data, and breakdowns by age bands and gender, is held by NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP). They can be contacted at:

https://nwssp.nhs.wales/

On 11 March 2026 you confirmed you wish for us to provide the limited data we hold (prescriptions issued in Wales but dispensed in England, with restricted demographic detail).

##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.

NHSBSA Prescription Services process prescriptions and information is then used to make payments to pharmacists and appliance contractors (in England) for prescriptions dispensed in primary care settings. This involves processing approximately 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 users.

__Data Source__

NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse

__Time Period__

Data covers prescribing between May 2022 and December 2025 inclusive.

__Contents__

This release contains information on the Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) for medicines prescribed in Wales and dispensed in England. The NHSBSA does not hold data for medicines dispensed in Wales.

__Prescribing Organisation__

Data shown for prescribing in GP practices in Wales.  The data is presented at GP practice level, split by BNF chapter, gender and age band, with unique patient counts calculated at each level.  

Dispensing Organisation: Restricted to dispensing in the community in England. The NHSBSA does not hold data about dispensing in Wales.

__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.

__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: NHS Prescription Services
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log