For data covering August 2010 to March 2013, this is code of the Primary Care Trust (PCT) in which the practice resides. Note that for a small number of PCTs, Prescription Services do not use the same codes for care trusts as Organisation Data Services (ODS). The codes this affects are shown below.
Prescription Services code |
ODS code |
Name |
5ZT |
TAP |
Blackburn with Darwen |
5ZU |
TAN |
North East Lincolnshire |
5ZW |
TAL |
Torbay |
5ZX |
TAK |
Bexley |
5ZZ |
TAC |
Northumberland |
Following changes to the structure of the NHS, from April 2013 this field relates to the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
As with the SHA field, please note that prescription data may be attributed to organisations which have since closed. Prescriptions can be presented for dispensing up to 6 months after issue, so an issuing organisation may have closed before a prescription is dispensed. Prescription Services of the NHS Business Services Authority may also receive scripts late from an organisation or a prescription pad from a closed organisation may still be in use by a prescriber previously at that organisation. Therefore, it is possible that PCT codes will appear in data from April 2013 onwards.
It should also be noted that following the NHS reforms in April 2013, PCTs were replaced with 211 CCGs. In addition, over 150 other 'cost centres', including trusts, councils and private company providers now exist. These 'cost centres' (the HSCIC refers to these as Non-CCG cost centres) are not linked to CCGs but are funded directly by Area Teams. Non-CCG cost centre prescribing is included in the Practice Presentation Level prescribing data.
Whilst PCTs used to be responsible for all prescribing activity in their area, their replacements, CCGs, are not. Prescribing activity not recorded against a CCG will be recorded against the responsible non-CCG cost centre body. The non-CCG cost centre bodies are listed alongside the CCGs and are linked to the responsible Area Team above.
For example, prescribing activity from a PCT will not be completely comparable with the activity of the replacement CCG(s) as some of the former PCT prescribing activity will now be recorded under a new, non-CCG body. At the Area Team level, all prescribing activity in an area will be recorded as either a CCG or non-CCG body.