Revised 27 February 2019 – New data files were provided for this publication on 27 February 2019. This amendment relates to the address file which had missing data and the main data file that had commas in the BNF NAME causing the file to corrupt. NHS Digital apologises for any inconvenience caused and welcomes any feedback on the data.
It has been brought to our attention that the NHS BSA have made changes to the data format and content from December 2018 due to changes in how they store and process the data extract. Please see attached explanation document in the resources section. The changes to the structure and format of the data are:
- switching from CR&LF to a LF
- removing extra spaces in columns and headers
- removing the extra blank column at the end of the data file
- having decimals in the quantity field
We will work with the NHS BSA to ensure the file structures stay consistent for future releases.
Published: 25 February 2019 - Practice level prescribing data is a list of all medicines, dressings and appliances that are prescribed by all practices in England and dispensed in the community each month. From October 2018 this data release will be moved earlier to be roughly 7 weeks after the data time point. Future releases will be on the 24th of the month.
A zip file is available which users are able to download and extract all 3 files locally.
What does the data cover?
Practice prescribing data is a list of all medicines, dressings and appliances that are prescribed and dispensed each month. A record will only be produced when this has occurred and there is no record for a zero total.
For each practice in England, including GP practices, the following information is presented at presentation level for each medicine, dressing and appliance, (by presentation name):
- the total number of items prescribed and dispensed
- the total net ingredient cost
- the total actual cost
- the total quantity
The data covers NHS prescriptions written in England and dispensed in the community in the UK. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. The data includes prescriptions written by GPs and other non-medical prescribers (such as nurses and pharmacists) who are attached to practices.
Practices are identified only by their national code, so an additional data file - linked to the first by the practice code - provides further detail in relation to the practice.
Presentations are identified only by their BNF code, so an additional data file - linked to the first by the BNF code - provides the chemical name for that presentation.
Warning: Large file size (over 1GB).
Each monthly data set is large (over 10 million rows), but can be viewed using add-ons to existing software, such as the Microsoft PowerPivot add-on for Excel, to handle larger data sets. The Microsoft PowerPivot add-on for Excel is available using the link in the 'Related Links' section below.
Once PowerPivot has been installed, to load the large files, please follow the instructions below. Note that it may take at least 20 to 30 minutes to load one monthly file.
1. Start Excel as normal
2. Click on the PowerPivot tab
3. Click on the PowerPivot Window icon (top left)
4. In the PowerPivot Window, click on the "From Other Sources" icon
5. In the Table Import Wizard e.g. scroll to the bottom and select Text File
6. Browse to the file you want to open and choose the file extension you require e.g. CSV
Once the data has been imported you can view it in a spreadsheet.