Identifiers · how names are matched
Brand and generic names, matched
Where a medicine page's name matches a BNF chemical in NHSBSA open data, that chemical, its class and its SNOMED identifiers are recorded here and in the API, and pages that share the chemical — a brand and its generic, say — are listed together without either changing address or count. Pages whose name has not matched carry no identifiers. This is name matching against BNF chemical and SNOMED identifiers from NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis (Open Government Licence) and the NHSBSA BNF SNOMED mapping — not NHS dictionary coding, which remains the goal and will be announced with its reviewed share when true.
Look up a name
Pages that share a BNF chemical
Cross-linked, never merged: each page keeps its own address and its own count.
- Adrenaline: Emerade (brand), Jext (brand)
- Atorvastatin: Atorvastatin (generic), Lipitor (brand)
- Biphasic isophane insulin: Hypurin Porcine (brand), Insulin Isophane Biphasic Human (generic)
- Carbamazepine: Carbamazepine (generic), Tegretol (brand)
- Ciclosporin: Capimune (brand), Ciclosporin (generic)
- Clonidine hydrochloride: Catapres (brand), Clonidine (generic)
- Desmopressin acetate: Ddavp (brand), Desmopressin (generic)
- Diclofenac sodium: Diclofenac, Voltarol Ophtha (brand)
- Estradiol: Elleste Solo Mx (brand), Estradiol (generic), Estradot (brand)
- Formoterol fumarate: Formoterol (generic), Formoterol Fumarate Dihydrate
- Hydrocortisone: Daktacort (brand), Hydrocortisone (generic)
- Insulin aspart: Fiasp (brand), Novorapid (brand), Trurapi (brand)
- Insulin degludec: Potential, Tresiba (brand)
- Insulin Lispro: Admelog (brand), Humalog (brand)
- Isophane insulin: Humulin I (brand), Hypurin Porcine Isophane (brand), Insulatard (brand), Insulin Isophane Human (generic)
- Lidocaine: Lidocaine (generic), Xylocaine
- Oestrogens conjugated with progestogen: Conjugated Oestrogens, Premique Low Dose (brand)
- Other multivitamin preparations: Abidec (brand), Dalivit (brand)
- Pancreatin: Creon Micro Pancreatin (brand), Pancrease Hl (brand)
- Sodium valproate: Epilim (brand), Sodium Valproate (generic)
- Somatropin: Genotropin (brand), Norditropin (brand), Somatropin (generic)
- Voriconazole: Vfend (brand), Voriconazole (generic)
Grouping under review
Names matched below confidence 0.85, or with no candidate: shown as under review, never asserted.
- Antimicrobial Agents Used In Tuberculosis — no candidate in the loaded releases
- Diamorphine — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Ethinylestradiol — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Fluticasone — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- For Co-Codamol — nearest by approximate name, confidence 0.69
- Gentisone Hc — nearest by approximate name, confidence 0.69
- Glp-1 Ra Products — no candidate in the loaded releases
- Glp-1 Receptor Agonists — no candidate in the loaded releases
- Levomepromazine — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Methadone — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Naltrexone — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Oral Contraceptive — no candidate in the loaded releases
- Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy — no candidate in the loaded releases
- Prochlorperazine — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Senokot — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
- Statstrip Beta-Ketone Testing Strips — nearest by approximate name, confidence 0.69
- Triamterene — nearest by presentation name, several BNF chemicals
What this is, and is not
- Sources: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis monthly data (Open Government Licence 3.0, per the dataset's own licence field) and the NHSBSA BNF SNOMED mapping (NHSBSA copyright, reusable under the Open Government Licence per NHSBSA's terms and conditions). Only identifier columns are loaded — never items, quantities or costs.
- Coverage is partial by construction: PCA lists presentations dispensed in England primary care in the release month; specials, unlicensed imports and hospital-only lines may be absent. The matched share above is computed from the database each time this page loads.
- Matching is by name: exact presentation name (0.95), presentation head name (0.90), chemical or generic name (0.85). Anything lower, or ambiguous, is “grouping under review” and changes no count and no address. Supplier names come from the dataset, not from the notices.
- Machine-readable: /api/v1/identifiers?q= and
?slug=; see the API docs.
BNF SNOMED mapping, NHSBSA Copyright 2026; Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) Monthly Administrative Data, NHSBSA Copyright 2026. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence.