FOI-03934

##Request You asked us: Please provide the following information: Monthly dispensing volumes for lymphoedema garments (Part IX categories) dispensed by Dispensing Appliance Contractors for the Warrington footprint (formerly NHS Warrington CCG), for the period 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025. The number of unique patients in the same footprint who were prescribed lymphoedema garments, based on ePACT2 prescribing data, for the same period. If possible, please provide the data broken down by product category and by month. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 30 June 2026 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 Data in ePACT2 is sourced from the NHSBSA Data Warehouse and is derived from products prescribed on prescriptions and dispensed in the Community. The data captured from prescription processing is used to calculate reimbursement and remuneration. It includes items prescribed in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man which have been dispensed in the community in England. English prescribing that has been dispensed in Wales, Scotland, Guernsey / Alderney, Jersey, and Isle of Man is also included. 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. ##This dataset This dataset shows the number of lymphoedema items (BNF Section 2127) dispensed and the number of unique patients prescribed these items. ##Time Period For the calendar year 2025 and aggregated monthly. ##Organisation Data Prescribed by the SICBL NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB – 02E (the modern equivalent of Warrington CCG) and dispensed by an English Appliance Contractor. ##Items Show the number of times a product appears on a prescription form not the quantity prescribed. ##Patient Identification Where patient identifiable figures have been reported they are based on the information captured during the prescription processing activities. Please note, patient details cannot be captured from every prescription form and based on the criteria used for this analysis, patient information (NHS number) was only available for 93.43% of prescription items. The figures for the number of identifiable patients should not be combined and reported at any other level than provided as this may result in the double counting of patients. For example, a single patient could appear in the results for more than one month. ##Data Queries Please contact [email protected] 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 [email protected] . 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: “ePACT2, 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.