Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data)

Processing of the Medicines Dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA Data) dataset is only permitted to provide intelligence about the safety and effectiveness of medicines, as specified by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Medicines Data Directions 2019. 

This data, particularly when linked with other data held by NHS Digital, will: 

• improve patient safety by contributing to safer and more effective prescribing - for example, it can be linked to maternity and child health data to study the effect of medicines given during pregnancy 

• enable research and support clinical trials into the medicines used by patients 

• inform planning and assist in monitoring national priorities like anti-microbial resistance 

• improve services by helping to measure the uptake and effectiveness of new medicines 

It is also hoped that this data can be used in research to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

You can read more in the NHSBSA Medicines Data Provision Notice issued by NHS England and NHS Improvement 

For more information go to: Medicines dispensed in Primary Care NHS Business Services Authority data

Direction  

View the Direction

Legal basis for the collection of the data  

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA 2012) section 254. 

Data Provision Notice

View the Data Provision Notice 

Legal basis for the provision of data  

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA 2012) section 259. 

Legal basis for processing the data 

The UK GDPR Article 6 lawful basis for the processing of the personal data within this collection falls under: 

• Article 6(1)(e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller 

The UK GDPR Article 9 condition for processing special categories of personal data within the collection falls under: 

• Article 9 2 (h) processing is necessary for the provision of health care or treatment, and for the management of health care systems or services

Transparency notice  

Read the Transparency Notice 

Lag time from collection to dissemination  

3 months - for example, May data received in August.

Frequency

Monthly.

Commissioning extracts specification  

Read the Commissioning extracts specification.

Suppression rules 

To be confirmed.