Fentanyl prescribing across the NHS.
Fentanyl patches are quietly leaving: 615,000 items a year and falling steadily as prescribers reserve them for genuine swallowing problems and established palliative use. This is the one strong-opioid line where the reduction policy is visibly winning.
The NHS in England dispensed 601,453 prescription items of Fentanyl in the 12 months to July 2026, across primary care and hospitals.
Spending on Fentanyl over those 12 months was £20.2m at net ingredient cost, the list price of what was dispensed before any discounts.
Items were down 7.4% on the previous 12 months.
68% of Fentanyl volume moved through primary care and 32% through hospital pharmacies.
Fentanyl ranks #7 of 16 chemical substances in Opioid analgesics (BNF 4.7.2), by items dispensed.
Among Integrated Care Boards, NHS Greater Manchester ICB dispensed the highest volume of Fentanyl.
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 | 51,198 | £1.7m |
| June 2026 | 48,980 | £1.6m |
| May 2026 | 47,639 | £1.5m |
| April 2026 | 49,342 | £1.6m |
| March 2026 | 49,864 | £1.6m |
| February 2026 | 45,758 | £1.5m |
| January 2026 | 50,398 | £1.6m |
| December 2025 | 53,615 | £1.8m |
| November 2025 | 48,672 | £1.7m |
| October 2025 | 53,329 | £1.9m |
| September 2025 | 51,919 | £1.9m |
| August 2025 | 50,739 | £1.8m |
The same series as the chart, most recent month first. The full monthly history, as CSV, sits behind Apply.
2.6% of its class.
Fentanyl ranks #7 of 16 chemical substances in Opioid analgesics (BNF 4.7.2), 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.
22 suppliers hold a live fentanyl listing, across 144 packs.
A A H Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Accord-UK Ltd, Advanz Pharma, Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) Ltd, AS Kalceks, CST Pharma Ltd, Fontus Health Ltd, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Europe Ltd, Grunenthal Ltd, hameln pharma Ltd, Janssen-Cilag Ltd, JCSH Pharma Ltd, Kent Pharma (UK) Ltd, Luye Pharma Ltd, Martindale Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Phoenix Labs Ltd, Pilsco Ltd, Piramal Critical Care Ltd, Sandoz Ltd, Special Order, Teva UK Ltd, Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd. In the last twelve months 2 packs were listed and 11 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.
55,757 people in England had at least one fentanyl item prescribed in primary care in 2025/26, 11.0 items each. Source: NHSBSA Dependency-Forming Medicines, England, official statistics, OGL v3.0. Identified patients only.
Fentanyl across all 36 ICBs.
Every Integrated Care Board in England, shaded by how much fentanyl 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 Fentanyl 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 Greater Manchester ICB 43k
- 2 NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB 30k
- 3 NHS West Yorkshire ICB 30k
- – + 33 more. See the full 36-ICB table. See all →
- 1 NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB -0.1%
- 2 NHS South West London ICB -1.6%
- 3 NHS Gloucestershire ICB -2.8%
- – + 33 more. See every ICB, ranked. See all →
- 1 Matrifen 12micrograms/hour transdermal patches 10%
- 2 Matrifen 25micrograms/hour transdermal patches 10%
- 3 Fentanyl 25micrograms/hour transdermal patches 8%
- – + 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 | 601k | July 2026 |
| Scotland | 46k | June 2026 |
| Northern Ireland | 29k | May 2026 |
| Wales | 32k | 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 fentanyl.
The illicit fentanyl story is a different universe from these prescriptions; nothing here measures it.
Asked and answered.
Is fentanyl prescribing rising or falling in the NHS?
Falling. England dispensed 601,453 items of Fentanyl in the 12 months to July 2026, down 7.4% 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 fentanyl?
£20.2m 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 fentanyl prescribed most?
By raw volume, NHS Greater Manchester ICB dispensed the most fentanyl 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.
Related pages.
See the full molecule directory, or read about the data and pricing.
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