Prescription Cost Analysis
The Business Services Organisation (BSO) is the provider of the data. Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data is obtained from the BSO's prescribing and dispensing information systems. The data covers all prescriptions including dental, those from out of hours surgeries, non-medical (ie Nurse, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist and Optometrist), hospice or those prescriptions prescribed in other parts of the UK but dispensed in NI and submitted to BSO for payment.
The data includes all prescribed medicines, dressings and appliances that are dispensed each month. If a patient does not take a prescription to a dispenser and get it provided to them, then the data will not be included in the dataset. Private prescriptions are not included in the data. Post-payment adjustments are included.
For some years, PCA data has been supplied in two versions, one at Northern Ireland level and another broken down by Local Commissioning Group (LCG). Where the information is supplied at LCG level, the data will cover all prescriptions, (including those from out of hours surgeries and non medical prescribers employed and based within a GP practice) with the exception of dental prescriptions, hospice items and those prescriptions prescribed in other parts of the UK but dispensed in NI and submitted to BSO for payment.
The release of the data is dependent on the completion of pharmacy payment processes but will be published here on or before 1st March each year.
In 2022, the PCA was approved as a National Statistic by the UK Statistics Authority.
Current Annual Publication
Date published: 23rd February 2023
Date of next release: February 2024
The statistics will be released on this page at 9.30am. If you have issues accessing the information it can also be found on the gov.uk site.
If you are a user of the Prescription Cost Analysis publication and would like to receive regular updates on future publications or provide feedback on how the publication could better meet your needs, please email us at info.bso@hscni.net
Annual Datasets
- PCA 2022
- PCA 2022 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2021
- PCA 2021 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2020
- PCA 2020 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2019
- PCA 2019 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2018
- PCA 2018 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2017
- PCA 2017 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2016
- PCA 2015
- PCA 2014
- PCA 2014 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2013
- PCA 2013 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2012
- PCA 2012 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2011
- PCA 2011 - Breakdown by LCG
- PCA 2010
- PCA 2009
- PCA 2008
- PCA 2007
- PCA 2006
- PCA 2005
- PCA 2004
- PCA 2003
- PCA 2002
- PCA 2001
- PCA 2000
Policy Documentation
A background quality report has been developed to support the publication of BSO Official Statistics.
Attribution Statement
Any party who processes (i.e. copies, publishes, adapts or otherwise uses in any means) the data provided by the Business Services Organisation on this website, covered by the Open Government Licence (OGL), is required to acknowledge the Business Services Organisation as the source of the data in any such processes.