FOI-03058

<p><strong>Thank you for your request for information about the following:</strong></p>

<p><strong>Request</strong></p>

<p><em>You asked us:</em></p>

<p><em>Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I was wondering if you would be able to develop on top of the FOI Request FOI-01537, FOI-01681, FOI-01795 , FOI-01900, FOI-01931, FOI-02008, FOI-02060, FOI-02143, FOI-02299, FOI-02381, FOI-02530, FOI-02605, FOI-02792 and FOI-2846.</em></p>

<p><em>BNF Chapter 20-22 and Chapter 23:</em><br>
<em>https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01537 (April 2023 - September 2023)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01681 (October 2023 - November 2023)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01795 (December 2023 - January 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01900 (February 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01931 (January 2024 - March 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02008 (April 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02060 (May 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02143 (June 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02299 (July 2024 - August 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02381 (September 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02530 (October 2024 - November 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02605 (December 2024)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02792 (January 2025 - February 2025)<br>
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02846 (March 2025)</em></p>

<p><em>The data in these requests were from the data source ‘NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse’ with the Columns YEAR_MONTH, PRACTICE_CODE, DISPENSER_CODE, BNF_CHAPTER_CODE, BNF_CODE, PRODUCT_ORDER_NUMBER, PACK_ORDER_NUMBER, EPD_BNF_20_21_22, EPD_BNF_23, AC_FLAG, ENG_PRESC_BNF20_23, NIC_GBP, ITEMS and TOTAL_QUANTITY.</em></p>

<p><em>Would it be possible for the data to be limited to prescribing within BNF Chapter 20 - Dressings, Chapter 21 – Appliances and Chapter 22 – Incontinence Appliances, Chapter 23 - Stoma Appliances, limited to England, Wales, Scotland, Guernsey, Alderney, Jersey, and the Isle of Man.</em></p>

<p><em>The data excludes:<br>
•             Items not dispensed, disallowed and those returned to the contractor for further clarification.<br>
•             Prescriptions prescribed and dispensed in Prisons, Hospitals and Private prescriptions.<br>
•             Items prescribed but not presented for dispensing or not submitted to NHS Prescription Services by the dispenser.</em></p>

<p><em>Could we have the same caveats so that the data matches with the English Prescribing Dataset (EPD).</em></p>

<p><em>Would it be possible to have the data in the same format for a 4 year period from January 2017 to December 2020 please?</em></p>

<p>The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 6 August 2025.</p>

<p>We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.</p>

<p><strong>Our response</strong></p>

<p>I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.</p>

<p>Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p><strong>Data Source</strong></p>

<p>The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse.</p>

<p><strong>Time Period</strong></p>

<p>January 2017 to December 2020. A separate file is provided for each month.</p>

<p>Please note drugs flagged in our database as Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs have been excluded from this dataset for information security reasons to prevent the identification of organisations with high levels of controlled drug dispensing.</p>

<p>This data is limited to prescriptions prescribed in England and dispensed in either England, Scotland or Wales.</p>

<p>The dataset also excludes items supplied as part of a Pharmacy First consultation or service</p>

<p><strong>Exclusions</strong></p>

<p>The Data excludes:<br>
• Items not dispensed, disallowed and those returned to the contractor for further clarification.<br>
• Prescriptions prescribed and dispensed in Prisons, Hospitals and Private prescriptions.<br>
• Items prescribed but not presented for dispensing or not submitted to NHS Prescription Services by the dispenser.</p>

<p><strong>Data Queries</strong></p>

<p>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.</p>

<p><strong>Reusing the data and copyright</strong></p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence3/">http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/</a></p>

<p>Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse, NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.</p>

<p>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.</p>


Tags: NHS Prescription Services
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log