Independent Prescribing - Optometrist

Optometrist prescribing is provided by Non Medical Independent Prescribers. Further details can be found in the Drug Tariff | NHSBSA

From April 2022, prescribing data by Optometrists in Wales will be made available at presentation level. The information is obtained from our prescribing and dispensing information systems.

The data covers prescriptions that are prescribed in Wales through Optometrist practices that are then dispensed in the community within Wales. The data includes all prescribed medicines 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.

The files are compressed each containing 4 csv files.

• Address - Details of the data period, Health Board code, Entity name and premises details
• BNF - Details of the drug name and the therapeutic area in the British National Formulary (BNF)
• ChemSubstance - This provides the chemical substance using the first 9 characters of the BNF code included in the main data file. 
• OPTDataCCYYMM - contains details of:
  • the responsible Health Board
  • Optometrist premises
  • BNF classification
  • Drug name
  • Number of items prescribed 
  • NIC - The Drug Tariff cost cost of the drug
  • Actual Cost of the drug (Drug cost minus a discount plus container allowance)
  • Quantity (number of capsules, tubes etc.)
  • Defined Daily Dose (DDD)
  • Average Daily Quantity (ADQ)
  • Period in which the prescription was submitted for reimbursement
     

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.