Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many emergency inhalers with dosage counters were prescribed by the NHS in the latest period for which data is available; and what proportion of the total number of emergency inhalers prescribed by the NHS in this period had dosage counters.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) produces official statistics on Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) which show the total volume and cost for drugs, dressings, appliances, and medical devices that have been dispensed in the community in England. These statistics cannot be specifically linked to the marketing authorisations, but they can be linked to pharmaceutical product suppliers using the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices. Suppliers may be distributors, manufacturers, or wholesalers. The following table shows the quantity supplied for National Health Service prescriptions of dry powder inhalers of salbutamol and terbutaline by supplier, for April, May, and June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/.

In addition, the following table shows the quantity supplied for NHS prescriptions of pressurised metered dose inhalers of salbutamol by supplier for April to June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/

‘Salbutamol 100micrograms/dose inhaler CFC free’ is reimbursed generically according to the Drug Tariff Part VIIIA, so it is not necessary for pharmacy reimbursement claims to state the supplier. In cases where the NHS BSA has no supplier information, these items are classified as ‘Generic Supplier’.

As set out in the answer I gave on 23 July 2025 to Question 68960, we do not hold prescribing data that specifically differentiates inhalers based on whether they have dosage counters. We note, however, that most dry powder inhalers have dosage counters, whilst most pressurised inhalers do not. In June 2025 the proportion of salbutamol and terbutaline sulphate inhalers that were dry powder inhalers was 9.3%.