Prednisolone prescribing across the NHS.
Prednisolone is the emergency brake of general medicine: 6m items a year across flares of asthma, COPD, polymyalgia and a dozen other conditions, gently declining as steroid-sparing strategies spread. Oral steroid volume is increasingly read as a quality signal, most sharply in asthma.
The NHS in England dispensed 5,940,372 prescription items of Prednisolone in the 12 months to July 2026, across primary care and hospitals.
Spending on Prednisolone over those 12 months was £13.5m at net ingredient cost, the list price of what was dispensed before any discounts.
Items were down 4.9% on the previous 12 months.
56% of Prednisolone volume moved through primary care and 44% through hospital pharmacies.
Prednisolone is the largest of 13 chemical substances in Use of corticosteroids (BNF 6.3.2), by items dispensed.
Among Integrated Care Boards, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the highest volume of Prednisolone.
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 | 450,184 | £1.0m |
| June 2026 | 456,720 | £1.0m |
| May 2026 | 450,466 | £1.0m |
| April 2026 | 476,956 | £1.1m |
| March 2026 | 505,014 | £1.2m |
| February 2026 | 479,228 | £1.1m |
| January 2026 | 573,538 | £1.2m |
| December 2025 | 621,268 | £1.4m |
| November 2025 | 503,731 | £1.2m |
| October 2025 | 538,680 | £1.2m |
| September 2025 | 468,787 | £1.1m |
| August 2025 | 415,800 | £947k |
The same series as the chart, most recent month first. The full monthly history, as CSV, sits behind Apply.
85.3% of its class.
Prednisolone is the largest of 13 chemical substances in Use of corticosteroids (BNF 6.3.2), 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.
27 suppliers hold a live prednisolone listing, across 155 packs.
A A H Pharmaceuticals Ltd, AbbVie Ltd, Accord-UK Ltd, Advanz Pharma, Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) Ltd, Almus Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Aspire Pharma Ltd, Bausch & Lomb UK Ltd, Bristol Laboratories Ltd, Clydesdale Pharma Ltd, Crescent Pharma Ltd, CST Pharma Ltd, Drug Tariff Special Order, Essential Generics Ltd, Genesis Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Logixx Pharma Solutions Ltd, Medihealth (Northern) Ltd, Necessity Supplies Ltd, Novumgen Ltd, Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd, Phoenix Labs Ltd, Relonchem Ltd, RPH Pharmaceuticals AB, Sigma Pharmaceuticals Plc, Special Order, Strides Pharma UK Ltd, Wockhardt UK Ltd. In the last twelve months 0 packs were listed and 1 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.
Prednisolone across all 36 ICBs.
Every Integrated Care Board in England, shaded by how much prednisolone 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 Prednisolone 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 410k
- 2 NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB 317k
- 3 NHS Central East ICB 316k
- – + 33 more. See the full 36-ICB table. See all →
- 1 NHS South East London ICB -2.9%
- 2 NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly ICB -2.9%
- 3 NHS West and North London ICB -3.0%
- – + 33 more. See every ICB, ranked. See all →
- 1 Prednisolone 5mg tablets 72%
- 2 Prednisolone 1mg tablets 17%
- 3 Prednisolone 5mg gastro-resistant tablets 4%
- – + 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 | 5.9m | July 2026 |
| Scotland | 678k | June 2026 |
| Northern Ireland | 221k | May 2026 |
| Wales | 470k | 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 prednisolone.
Course length and cumulative exposure, the things steroid stewardship cares about, are invisible in item counts.
Asked and answered.
Is prednisolone prescribing rising or falling in the NHS?
Falling. England dispensed 5,940,372 items of Prednisolone in the 12 months to July 2026, down 4.9% 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 prednisolone?
£13.5m 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 prednisolone prescribed most?
By raw volume, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the most prednisolone 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 prednisolone like this, every month.
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