Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

You asked us:

Please provide the following data, from 2021 to the present, related to the prescribing of semaglutide 2.4mg (Wegovy) specifically for obesity or weight management (excluding type 2 diabetes treatment):

1. The total number of prescriptions issued for Wegovy/Semaglutide, broken down by month (or quarter/annual if monthly is unavailable).

2. The number of unique patients initiated on Wegovy for weight management in this period.

3. A breakdown of prescribing by NHS Tier 3 weight management services, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), or GP surgeries (if available).

4. Confirmation of the earliest date when prescribing for Wegovy began in NHS England.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 24 July 2025.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

Question 1 - The total number of prescriptions issued for Wegovy / Semaglutide, broken down by month (or quarter/annual if monthly is unavailable).

Under Section 21 of the FOIA we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

The information you requested is available on the following links:

English Prescribing Dataset (EPD), a monthly dataset at practice level:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-prescribing-data-epd

Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) Monthly Administrative Data at ICB level:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/prescription-cost-analysis-pca-monthly-data

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full - Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)

Question 2 - The number of unique patients initiated on Wegovy for weight management in this period.

We cannot provide the number of unique patients initiated on Wegovy for weight management in this period. This is because the prescription data does not contain the clinical condition of the drug prescribed. Therefore, the NHSBSA does not hold the requested information.

Question 3 - A breakdown of prescribing by NHS Tier 3 weight management services, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), or GP surgeries (if available).

The information you requested is available on the links below; however, please note, this is as long as the services were set up as General Practitioner Practice or Cost Centre in England, and have prescribed this medication on a prescription form, that has then been submitted to the BSA from a community dispensing contractor for reimbursement.

English Prescribing Dataset (EPD), a monthly dataset at practice level:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-prescribing-data-epd

Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) Monthly Administrative Data at ICB level:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/prescription-cost-analysis-pca-monthly-data

Question 4 - Confirmation of the earliest date when prescribing for Wegovy began in NHS England.

September 2023 semaglutide 2.4mg (Wegovy) is the earliest date entered on to the NHSBSA drug data base.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.