FOI-03870

Request   You asked us:   Could I request the following dataset:        Could you please provide the total cost (Net Ingredient Cost).   Please provide the total cost broken down by BNF code, prescribed date and practice code.(i.e. cost for every single day using EPS, as opposed to aggregated monthly).   Please break it down by GP practice code.   W e are only interested in chapter 23 of the drug tariff    We would like all available data from 1st January 2026     Please let me know if you have any questions or require further clarification.   The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 1 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   The data source is 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   items supplied under NHS pharmacy advanced services   Time Period   Items prescribed in February 2026 and March 2026 (with each month given as a separate file). Note that most data published by the NHSBSA is calculated based on the month that it is processed for payment (after submission by the dispensing contractor) and therefore matching against other datasets with this data may not be reliable. Later submissions may still be made for prescription dates in the months given.   Organisation Data   Limited to items prescribed and dispensed in England.   Medications   Limited to items in Chapter 23 of the BNF.   Prescription type   Limited to prescriptions issued under the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). The NHSBSA does not hold prescribed dates for paper prescriptions, so these cannot be included in a daily breakdown. 90.38% of prescription items issued over this time period for Chapter 23 items were EPS.   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:  “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.