The recent update from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) marks one of the most meaningful changes I’ve seen in type 2 diabetes care. NICE now recommends wider first‑line use of SGLT2 inhibitors - including dapagliflozin - for many patients living with the condition.
This shift has the potential to reduce complications linked to heart failure, kidney disease, and long‑term glucose instability, which NICE notes could save thousands of lives across the UK.
For community pharmacies, these changes come with an important question: how many patients locally may benefit from a treatment review, and what practical impact will this have on service planning and dispensing volumes?
At RWA Pharmacy, we analysed prescribing patterns across our national dataset to understand the scale of potential change. On average, a typical pharmacy has around 300 patients prescribed metformin, which represents roughly 3% of its overall patient population.
Of those patients, 25% are already taking dapagliflozin. This means the remaining 75%, around 225 patients per branch, may require review under the updated NICE recommendations.
Because dapagliflozin is taken as one tablet per day, supplied in packs of 28, the national uplift in demand is significant. When applied across all UK branches, the estimated increase in dapagliflozin dispensing is approximately 2.4 million packs per month.
These numbers provide a clear picture of what pharmacies and wholesalers can expect. They also show how a data‑led approach can help teams anticipate stock requirements, plan patient contact, and support clinical decision‑making that benefits both safety and long‑term health outcomes.
To help pharmacy teams act confidently on these changes, we’ve incorporated our findings into the Diabetes Risk Analysis module within the RWA Pharmacy platform.
The tool identifies patients currently on metformin who may benefit from a treatment review, highlights those with additional risk factors, and provides teams with a clear list of individuals to contact for a care call or GP referral.
The aim of this module is simple: to support pharmacies in making informed, proactive decisions that align with NICE guidance and deliver better outcomes for people living with type 2 diabetes.
If you want to understand how many of your patients could benefit from review, or you’d like to see how the Diabetes Risk Analysis module could support your team, please get in touch.
We’re here to help you translate national guidance into practical, patient‑centred change.
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