Pharmacy owners with more than one premises: Do you know your NHS POC code?
Every community pharmacy owner has an NHS Parent Organisation Code (POC).
This is the unique code that identifies your parent organisation within the NHS.
- If you own a single pharmacy, you still have a POC.
- If you own multiple pharmacies, each pharmacy site should be correctly linked to the same POC.
- POCs are usually four or five characters long and often begin with the letter “P”.
Getting this right is important. It helps ensure NHS records about your organisation are accurate and consistent.
Pharmacy ODS codes and POCs – what is the difference?
Each individual pharmacy has its own Organisation Data Service (ODS) code.
- ODS codes are five characters.
- They start with the letter “F”.
- You can find your ODS code at the top of your monthly NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) payment schedule.
Your POC identifies the overall business.
Your ODS code identifies each pharmacy site.
Both must be correct and up-to-date.
When you may need to update your POC links
You may need to ask for a pharmacy to be moved under the correct POC if, for example:
- you buy or sell a pharmacy;
- there is a change in ownership structure; or
- a pharmacy has been incorrectly linked to another organisation’s POC.
Failing to keep this up to date can cause problems with:
- Your annual Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPTK) submission (batch POC submission processes bring efficiencies for those with three or more premises);
- NHS reporting and analytics; and
- the accuracy of information NHS bodies hold about your pharmacies.
How to check your details
Our one-page guide explains how to check which pharmacies are within your POC. This sets out how you can look-up POCs and ODS codes using the NHS Data Search and Export tool.
Use that method to check:
- which pharmacies are linked to your POC
- that your organisation’s information is correct
If a correction is required, then a ticket can be raised with the NHS National Service Desk (NSD). And the NSD will need to know the ODS code, the postcode, the pharmacy name and the current POC. They may also request additional information.
Keeping this data accurate makes DSPTK submissions smoother and supports reliable reporting to the NHS and Community Pharmacy England.
We encourage all pharmacy owners with two or more premises, to check that their pharmacies are correctly linked to their NHS POC and that their ODS information is accurate.
Why this also matters for future digital improvements
Pharmacy owners with two or more premises sometimes ask for better ‘bulk view and edit’ features within NHS digital tools. Keeping your POC data accurate makes this easier. When POC information is consistent, it supports NHS developers options for considering building bulk features into pharmacy tools – for example, options that let owners manage several sites in one place.
Further information
