Carbocisteine prescribing across the NHS.
Carbocisteine is COPD's unglamorous 4.1m items a year: a mucolytic prescribed for whoever coughs through winter with thick sputum, growing gently with an ageing COPD population. It gets almost no attention, which for a £19m line is its own kind of interesting.
The NHS in England dispensed 4,113,414 prescription items of Carbocisteine in the 12 months to July 2026, across primary care and hospitals.
Spending on Carbocisteine over those 12 months was £19.7m at net ingredient cost, the list price of what was dispensed before any discounts.
Items were up 4.8% on the previous 12 months.
92% of Carbocisteine volume moved through primary care and 8% through hospital pharmacies.
Carbocisteine is the largest of 4 chemical substances in Mucolytics (BNF 3.7), by items dispensed.
Among Integrated Care Boards, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the highest volume of Carbocisteine.
Source: NHS Business Services Authority open data (English Prescribing Data and SCMD), OGL v3.0. Items count prescriptions dispensed, not patients treated.
Diamond markers show events around this period: NICE decisions, safety alerts, supply notices, Drug Tariff moves and price concessions, new suppliers in dm+d and framework awards. Hover a marker for the date and type. The evidence behind each one, with the source quote and link, sits behind Apply.
| Month | Items | Spend (NIC) |
|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 364,179 | £1.6m |
| June 2026 | 350,918 | £1.6m |
| May 2026 | 333,758 | £1.6m |
| April 2026 | 344,541 | £1.6m |
| March 2026 | 350,287 | £1.7m |
| February 2026 | 320,939 | £1.7m |
| January 2026 | 349,423 | £2.2m |
| December 2025 | 362,373 | £2.3m |
| November 2025 | 324,031 | £1.4m |
| October 2025 | 352,310 | £1.3m |
| September 2025 | 338,969 | £1.3m |
| August 2025 | 321,686 | £1.2m |
The same series as the chart, most recent month first. The full monthly history, as CSV, sits behind Apply.
86.6% of its class.
Carbocisteine is the largest of 4 chemical substances in Mucolytics (BNF 3.7), by items dispensed in July 2026. The full class league, who's gaining, and the month-by-month share movement sit behind Apply.
Average items by calendar month across the full history, indexed to the annual mean.
23 suppliers hold a live carbocisteine listing, across 40 packs.
A A H Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) Ltd, Aspire Pharma Ltd, Bristol Laboratories Ltd, Brown & Burk UK Ltd, Crescent Pharma Ltd, CST Pharma Ltd, Esteve Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Flamingo Pharma (UK) Ltd, HBS Healthcare Ltd, Manx Healthcare Ltd, Medihealth (Northern) Ltd, Milpharm Ltd, Noumed Life Sciences Ltd, Perennial Pharma Ltd, Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd, Roma Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd, RX Farma, Sigma Pharmaceuticals Plc, Typharm Ltd, Viatris UK Healthcare Ltd, Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd. In the last twelve months 0 packs were listed and 3 discontinued. Every pack, its GTIN and published list price, and each week's changes are in the full report.
A listing in the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices means a product may be supplied. It says nothing about sales or market share, and the list price is the reimbursement price, not what any buyer pays. Contains information from dm+d 10.1.0, published by the NHS Business Services Authority under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Carbocisteine across all 36 ICBs.
Every Integrated Care Board in England, shaded by how much carbocisteine its GPs dispense per head of population. Hover an ICB to name it. The ranked figures for all 36 ICBs, and the drill-down to practice level, are in the full report.
Darker shading marks where Carbocisteine is dispensed most per head of population. Exact figures for every ICB, and the drill-down to practice level, are in the full report.
Zoomed out to the 7 NHS regions.
The same 12 months rolled up to NHS England's seven regions, ranked by intensity.
The teaser view.
Three rows each. The full 36-ICB view, every prescribing organisation, every strength and the hospital picture sit below the fold, behind Apply.
- 1 NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB 393k
- 2 NHS Greater Manchester ICB 232k
- 3 NHS West Yorkshire ICB 217k
- – + 33 more. See the full 36-ICB table. See all →
- 1 NHS Lincolnshire ICB +12.5%
- 2 NHS West and North London ICB +11.4%
- 3 NHS Gloucestershire ICB +10.0%
- – + 33 more. See every ICB, ranked. See all →
- 1 Carbocisteine 375mg capsules 90%
- 2 Carbocisteine 750mg capsules 4%
- 3 Carbocisteine 250mg/5ml oral solution 3%
- – + 3 more. See every strength and pack. See all →
Split of items across NHSBSA primary care and SCMD hospital dispensing.
Prescribing by deprivation.
Items per 1,000 registered patients by deprivation decile (1 = most deprived), practice deprivation weighted by where each practice's patients live. Read the shape rather than the absolute level: the most and least deprived deciles cover far fewer practices, and age structure drives much of the gradient.
The devolved nations.
| Nation | Items · 12 months | Data to |
|---|---|---|
| England | 4.1m | July 2026 |
| Scotland | 94k | June 2026 |
| Northern Ireland | 134k | May 2026 |
| Wales | 177k | April 2026 |
Each nation publishes its own community prescribing data, with different coding and list rules, so read these per-nation rather than as an exact UK total. Sources: NHSBSA (England), Public Health Scotland, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, OpenDataNI. Used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What open data won't tell you about carbocisteine.
Evidence for mucolytics is modest and contested; the prescribing data measures faith in them, not their effect.
Asked and answered.
Is carbocisteine prescribing rising or falling in the NHS?
Rising. England dispensed 4,113,414 items of Carbocisteine in the 12 months to July 2026, up 4.8% on the previous 12 months. Items count prescriptions dispensed, not patients treated, so the change can reflect dose and duration shifts as well as patient numbers.
How much does the NHS spend on carbocisteine?
£19.7m at net ingredient cost in the 12 months to July 2026. Net ingredient cost is the list price of the medicine before discounts and rebates; the NHS's final bill, especially for hospital medicines, is usually lower.
Where in England is carbocisteine prescribed most?
By raw volume, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the most carbocisteine in the last 12 months. Raw volume favours the biggest populations; the map on this page shades every ICB by items per head to correct for that.
How up to date is this data?
This page runs to July 2026, the most recent NHSBSA release. Prescribing data publishes roughly six to eight weeks in arrears, and DoseTrend refreshes within 48 hours of each monthly release.
The full breakdown.
Every ICB, every prescribing organisation, every strength, the hospital view with what trusts paid and who holds each framework line, Signals with their sources, and the monthly briefing PDF. The rows below are placeholders; the real tables sit behind the application.
Track carbocisteine like this, every month.
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