FOI-02595

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

##Request 

‘I would like to request a re-run of a previous Freedom of Information request which you have kindly responded to. I would like to make a new request under the Freedom of Information Act, for the following data: 

The reference number for the previous request is 02526 and we would like a re-run of this for the latest data, i.e. for the month of December 2024.’ 

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 17 February 2025.  

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 was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse. 

##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. 

Please note data for 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. 

##Time Period	 

December 2024. 

##Organisation Data 

The data provided is for prescriptions dispensed in England. 

##BNF Code 

The BNF Code is a 15 digit code in which the first seven digits are allocated according to the categories in the BNF and the last 8 digits represent the medicinal product, form, strength and the link to the generic equivalent product. NHS Prescription Services has created pseudo BNF chapters, which are not published, for items not included in BNF chapters 1 to 15. The majority of such items are dressings and appliances which NHS Prescription Services has classified into four pseudo BNF chapters (20 to 23). 

##Items 

Items shows the number of times a product appears on a prescription form not the quantity prescribed. 

##Total Quantity 

Total quantity is the number of items multiplied by the quantity prescribed. e.g. 2 items prescribed, one with a quantity of 2 and one with a quantity of 3, the total quantity would show as 5  (1 item x quantity of 2) + (1 item x quantity of 3) 

##Net Ingredient Cost (NIC(£)) 

Net Ingredient cost (NIC) is the basic price of a drug as stated in Part II Clause 8 of the Drug Tariff but please note that where a price concession for items listed in Part VIII of the Drug Tariff has been agreed between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee the NIC will reflect the concession price rather than the Drug Tariff price. 

##Data Queries 

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foidata@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

##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 Copyright 2025” 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 Prescriptions, Prescriptions
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log