This bulletin reports on use of medicines in primary care, in hospitals and those prescribed in hospitals, but dispensed in the community.
Costs for hospital use are provided by IMS Health who collect volume data from a large sample of hospitals and cost this using the Drug Tariff and standard price lists. This means that the costs are not necessarily what the hospitals paid as they are often able to negotiate a discount.
The data for the other two sectors comes from the Prescription Pricing Division of the Business Services Authority who is responsible for reimbursing those who dispense prescriptions.