FOI-03948

Request   You asked us:  The attached file was used in a consultation published November 2017. It is based on the then CCGs. I am only interested in liothyronine. Is it possible to replicate the data presented ffor every year since but with the current ICB structure?   If it is possible I would like to obtain a time series by ICB of the liothyronine patient numbers for every year using the same anniversary points that were used in the November 2017 data published. The data from 2017 is attached so you can see what was done then.   The data points would be:   date from the 2016 data point used in the consultation annual point 2017 - 2025. I have sent an FOI asking for the latest 2026 data so that will cover the latest data point. If you want to merge the requets please do and let me know. ICB level (the CCG would have to be translated into an ICB for pre 2022 data) number of patients (I do not need a split by age or gender just total) only liothyronine - I do not need all the drugs in the 2017 data The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 5 July 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 for personal administration. 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 for 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 (DHSC) users.  Data source – ePACT2   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.   For this dataset, data has been provided for prescriptions dispensed by English pharmacy contractors and dispensing doctors only. Refer to 'Organisation Data' for more information.   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  Time period   April 2016-March 2026. Data is aggregated by Financial Year.  Dataset   The data provides a unique identified patient count for individuals prescribed any prescription item within the BNF Chemical Substance of Liothyronine Sodium (0602010M0).   Organisation data   The data provided is for prescriptions prescribed in England and dispensed in the community. The data is aggregated by the organisational structure at the time of each Financial Year- prior to 2020/21 the data is aggregated by Area Teams, from 2020/21 onwards the data is aggregated by NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB)  A date with the letter 'C' in brackets - example (C 01-Apr-26) against an area indicates that this organisation is closed as of the date stated.   Unidentified Deputising Services / Unidentified Doctors relate to prescription forms which contained a prescriber code that could not be allocated to an ICB. For example, the prescriber code was invalid or illegible. This has been included for completeness of data.   BNF classification   The British National Formulary (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 eight 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).  Patient identification   Where patient identifiable figures have been reported they are based on the information captured during the prescription processing activities. Patient details cannot be captured from every prescription form. For this dataset, patient information (NHS number) was available for 96.30% of prescription items.    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.