Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions for cannabis-based medicines have been issued since those prescriptions became legal.
Answered on
13 January 2023
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is unable to provide the number of National Health Service prescription items for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines dispensed in the community in England. This information is being withheld in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due to the number of items attributed to fewer than five patients and the elevated risk of potential patient identifiable information.
However, the following table shows NHS and private prescribing data for the number of items prescribed for licensed and unlicensed cannabis based medicines dispensed in the community in England.
Type of prescribing | Time period | Number of items |
NHS prescribing licensed medicines | November 2018 to October 2022 | 11,976 |
Private prescribing licensed medicines | November 2018 to October 2022 | 140 |
Private prescribing unlicensed medicines | November 2018 to July 2022 | 89,239 |