General Practice Prescribing Data Extract
Prescribing data by GP practice is available at presentation level. The information is obtained from our prescribing and dispensing information systems.
The data covers prescriptions that are prescribed in Wales by GP's (general medical practitioners) and non medical prescribers that have prescribed on behalf of the GP practice, that are then dispensed in the community within Wales or England. The data includes all prescribed medicines, dressings and appliances that are dispensed each month. If a patient does not take a prescription to the pharmacy for dispensing, then the information will not be included in the dataset.
The data does not include private prescriptions.
Data will be published on the 1st working day of each month and will be available for the current and two complete financial years. Each compressed file will contain three individual files which can be viewed in applications such as Microsoft WordPad. Due to the number of rows in the GP data file, it will not be possible to open using Microsoft Excel.
Prescribing data requires careful interpretation and should not be used in isolation.
Each month a compressed file containing three files will be available to download.
GPDataFileCCYYMM
This is the main data file containing every item prescribed and dispensed at presentation level. The BNF class (15 characters) is included.
ChemSubstance
This provides the chemical substance using the first 9 characters of the BNF code included in the main GP data file.
Address File
This file will provide the name and address of each practice along with details of the Health Boards and Localities.
This data is available for use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). Please ensure that you understand the terms of the OGL before using our data.
Please refer to the documents below for information on the individual files.
