April 2026 in numbers
Dispensed in April 2026
NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis
Net ingredient cost, April 2026
NHSBSA PCA
Figure 1. The most-dispensed medicines in England, April 2026
Source: NHSBSA English Prescribing Dataset
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Most-dispensed medicines
Download full month (CSV)| Medicine | Items | Net ingredient cost |
|---|---|---|
| Atorvastatin | 6,648,832 | £6,150,569 |
| Amlodipine | 3,487,398 | £2,879,941 |
| Lansoprazole | 3,176,810 | £3,651,497 |
| Ramipril | 3,061,548 | £4,891,812 |
| Levothyroxine sodium | 2,906,317 | £3,454,417 |
| Omeprazole | 2,895,388 | £8,130,781 |
| Bisoprolol fumarate | 2,640,839 | £5,156,416 |
| Colecalciferol | 2,491,057 | £10,664,280 |
| Metformin hydrochloride | 2,297,528 | £5,058,201 |
| Sertraline hydrochloride | 2,190,016 | £3,713,543 |
| Aspirin | 1,686,006 | £4,671,123 |
| Amitriptyline hydrochloride | 1,391,201 | £1,479,770 |
Biggest risers
Largest month-on-month rise in items (medicines above 10,000 items).
| Medicine | Items | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium cromoglicate | 60,221 | +13.8% |
| Vibegron | 24,575 | +12.0% |
| Olopatadine | 32,139 | +7.1% |
| Fexofenadine hydrochloride | 665,510 | +7.0% |
| Ready to serve 2.4 kcal/ml milkshake higher volume (0913011) | 12,370 | +5.2% |
| Daridorexant | 30,015 | +5.0% |
| Desloratadine | 13,406 | +4.8% |
| Other individually formulated bought in preparations | 26,683 | +4.7% |
Biggest fallers
Largest month-on-month fall in items.
| Medicine | Items | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Influenza | 82,451 | −44.8% |
| Phenazone/lidocaine | 12,253 | −31.5% |
| Typhoid | 37,366 | −29.1% |
| Hepatitis A | 34,401 | −27.6% |
| Diphtheria | 22,550 | −24.6% |
| Chloramphenicol | 81,049 | −19.1% |
| Phenoxymethylpenicillin (Penicillin V) | 261,155 | −17.4% |
| Amoxicillin | 637,960 | −15.3% |
Download this data
Every medicine dispensed in April 2026 is in this month's CSV. For the full monthly history — the national headline series, and the top 500 medicines ranked in every month — see the headline series and most-prescribed medicines datasets in our open data catalogue.