Taking your questions in order; firstly, there is no statutory or other time limit for the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to send a prescription to the chemist who dispensed it; Secondly, patient consent is not necessary as the prescription would be returned to the chemist to whom the patient handed the script in the first place. Lastly, the NHSBSA does not have a charter or similar document providing timescales for this activity. The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by the Prescription Pricing Authority will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on HMSOnline at: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-home.htm Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information. This information provided is based on our understanding of your request and is provided solely to meet your request. The information should therefore not be regarded as suitable to be used or relied upon by any person or organisation for any purpose or in any context. Any person or organisation who obtains access to the information and chooses to rely on the information will do so at their own risk. The PPA accepts no responsibility for subsequent use of the information provided.