Swabs
Swabs was ranked 412th of 1,796 medicines by items in May 2026, with 17,721 items, down 10.0% on a year earlier.
Dispensed in May 2026
Rolling 12 months
Net ingredient cost · May 2026
Figure 1. Swabs: national items dispensed by month
Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis, to May 2026
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At a glance
- Therapeutic class Swabs
- Presentations 9 shown
- Average cost / item £4.51
- Year on year Down 10.0% on a year earlier
Top presentations, May 2026
The individual products dispensed under Swabs this month.
| Presentation | BNF code | Items | Net ingredient cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-woven fabric swab 4ply non-sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000205 | 7,397 | £19,221 |
| Gauze swab type 13 light BP 1988 8ply non-sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000100 | 4,221 | £11,894 |
| Non-woven fabric swab 4ply sterile 7.5cm x 7.5cm | 20120000206 | 2,703 | £22,013 |
| Gauze swab type 13 light BP 1988 8ply sterile 7.5cm x 7.5cm | 20120000110 | 2,649 | £20,779 |
| Non-woven fabric swab 4ply sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000222 | 327 | £3,269 |
| Gauze swab type 13 light BP 1988 8ply sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000224 | 278 | £2,357 |
| Gauze swab type 13 light BP 1988 8ply non-sterile 7.5cm x 7.5cm | 20120000221 | 91 | £49 |
| Non-woven fabric swab 6ply sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000223 | 35 | £147 |
| Filmated non-woven fabric swab 8ply non-sterile 10cm x 10cm | 20120000220 | 20 | £280 |
Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis · to May 2026 OGL v3.0
Where Swabs is dispensed
The regions and dispensing practices with the highest Swabs volumes.
Top regions
Top dispensing practices
Regional volumes from NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis; practice volumes from NHS dispensing data.
Download this data
The monthly series for Swabs is in this page's CSV. For the ranked national series across every medicine, with the method and caveats documented, see the most-prescribed medicines dataset in our open data catalogue.