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Registered lists in England: September 2026

How registered patient lists moved in England, its seven NHS regions and its 36 integrated care boards, against the usual pattern for the month.

By Kev Tanna, Founder

England's registered lists fell by 118,255 in September 2026, 160,524 below the usual pattern for the month. That shortfall is wider than the average since November 2025, which is 126,114 a month.

NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, November 2021 to September 2026 releases; usual pattern and gaps by the method below

England, month by month since November 2025

Each pair of bars is one month: the net change in registered patients in the month, beside the usual pattern for that calendar month.

−200k−100k0+100k+200kNov2025DecJan2026FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSep
Usual pattern for the monthNet change in the month, a fallNet change in the month, a rise
The figures, month by month
MonthNet changeUsual patternGap
November 2025+27,573+123,184−95,611
December 2025−10,418+83,280−93,698
January 2026−42,572+46,432−89,004
February 2026−104,579+57,961−162,540
March 2026−82,173+35,793−117,966
April 2026−33,673+32,387−66,060
May 2026−70,820+42,922−113,742
June 2026−113,953+46,549−160,502
July 2026−52,404+40,606−93,010
August 2026−198,600+36,002−234,602
September 2026−118,255+42,269−160,524
Registered patients in England at 1 September 2026
63,119,653
Net change since 1 November 2025
−827,447 −1.29%
England's total at 1 September 2026 less its total at 1 November 2025.
Total gap against the usual pattern, November 2025 to September 2026
−1,387,259
The 11 monthly gaps added up, starting with the change in November 2025. An average of −126,114 a month.
NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, November 2021 to September 2026 releases; usual pattern and gaps by the method below

NHS England attributes the recent fall to “ongoing work to address patient list inflation”.

NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, September 2026 release

Registered lists in England fell in ten of the eleven months from November 2025 to September 2026. Between December 2021 and October 2025, they grew in every month.

All 36 integrated care boards are now below their November 2025 level. The falls range from 0.29% in Gloucestershire to 2.86% in West and North London, and London’s four boards have the four largest percentage falls.

These figures show net change, not reasons.

NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, November 2021 to September 2026 releases; usual pattern and gaps by the method below

The NHS regions

RegionRegistered patientsChange in SeptemberUsual for SeptemberGapChange since 1 November 2025% change
East of England7,301,832−10,350+5,762−16,112−62,901−0.85%
London10,891,800−31,736+11,516−43,252−285,485−2.55%
Midlands11,908,178−22,930+8,121−31,051−142,804−1.18%
North East and Yorkshire9,196,930−16,298+2,623−18,921−95,868−1.03%
North West7,929,888−13,364+5,132−18,496−73,986−0.92%
South East9,784,888−15,406+6,277−21,683−114,875−1.16%
South West6,106,137−8,171+2,839−11,010−51,528−0.84%
England63,119,653−118,255+42,269−160,524−827,447−1.29%
NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, November 2021 to September 2026 releases; current ICB boundaries

The integrated care boards (ICBs)

Sorted by the percentage change since 1 November 2025, largest fall first.

ICBRegistered patientsChange in SeptemberUsual for SeptemberGapChange since 1 November 2025% change
West and North LondonLondon4,646,555−14,538+6,115−20,653−137,026−2.86%
North East LondonLondon2,429,137−7,731+2,738−10,469−60,742−2.44%
South West LondonLondon1,737,629−5,121+1,468−6,589−40,967−2.30%
South East LondonLondon2,078,479−4,346+1,195−5,541−46,750−2.20%
Nottingham and NottinghamshireMidlands1,262,308−2,663−788−1,875−25,648−1.99%
Birmingham and SolihullMidlands1,619,828−4,606+1,504−6,110−30,530−1.85%
Coventry and WarwickshireMidlands1,105,986−3,061+1,283−4,344−19,470−1.73%
Surrey and SussexSouth East3,117,244−5,145+1,708−6,853−46,609−1.47%
Thames ValleySouth East2,488,770−3,208+2,311−5,519−36,503−1.45%
West YorkshireNorth East and Yorkshire2,667,860−5,536+671−6,207−37,500−1.39%
Bristol, North Somerset and South GloucestershireSouth West1,084,714−1,956+160−2,116−14,544−1.32%
Black CountryMidlands1,326,292−3,633+1,124−4,757−17,180−1.28%
Leicester, Leicestershire and RutlandMidlands1,221,056−2,475+561−3,036−15,878−1.28%
Greater ManchesterNorth West3,277,491−7,067+2,337−9,404−40,189−1.21%
DorsetSouth West822,565−1,093+357−1,450−9,286−1.12%
South YorkshireNorth East and Yorkshire1,512,951−3,421+392−3,813−16,154−1.06%
Central EastEast of England3,505,002−6,033+2,683−8,716−36,756−1.04%
Hampshire and Isle of WightSouth East2,145,511−4,207+463−4,670−21,725−1.00%
North East and North CumbriaNorth East and Yorkshire3,213,710−4,792+853−5,645−28,765−0.89%
DevonSouth West1,288,388−1,724+249−1,973−11,304−0.87%
Norfolk and SuffolkEast of England1,788,882−1,779+1,267−3,046−15,388−0.85%
NorthamptonshireMidlands845,866−1,018+1,044−2,062−6,990−0.82%
SomersetSouth West603,255−502+488−990−4,972−0.82%
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-TrentMidlands1,200,931−1,799+780−2,579−9,323−0.77%
Lancashire and South CumbriaNorth West1,861,205−2,487+1,008−3,495−14,289−0.76%
Humber and North YorkshireNorth East and Yorkshire1,802,409−2,549+707−3,256−13,449−0.74%
Cheshire and MerseysideNorth West2,791,192−3,810+1,787−5,597−19,508−0.69%
Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and WiltshireSouth West1,006,705−1,685+660−2,345−6,541−0.65%
Shropshire, Telford and WrekinMidlands534,634−770+391−1,161−3,370−0.63%
LincolnshireMidlands820,255−908+499−1,407−4,778−0.58%
Herefordshire and WorcestershireMidlands830,710−864+784−1,648−4,489−0.54%
EssexEast of England2,007,948−2,538+1,812−4,350−10,757−0.53%
Kent and MedwaySouth East2,033,363−2,846+1,796−4,642−10,038−0.49%
Cornwall and the Isles of ScillySouth West603,392−642+255−897−2,883−0.48%
Derby and DerbyshireMidlands1,140,312−1,133+940−2,073−5,148−0.45%
GloucestershireSouth West697,118−569+671−1,240−1,998−0.29%

ICBs are shown as they stand at 1 September 2026, after the mergers of April 2026. Earlier months are rebuilt on these boundaries, so each practice is counted in its current ICB. A practice that closed before the mergers is counted in its old ICB's successor.

NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice, November 2021 to September 2026 releases; current ICB boundaries

How we measure this

  • The figures are NHS England's counts of patients registered at each GP practice, taken on the 1st of each month. The change in a month is that month's figure less the figure a month earlier. The changes are net: the publication does not say why a list moved, so neither do we.
  • The usual pattern for a month is the average net change in that calendar month from December 2021 to October 2025. That starts after the Covid disruption to registrations and ends before November 2025, the first month below the pattern.
  • A month's gap is its net change minus its usual pattern. The total gap adds the monthly gaps from the change in November 2025 to the latest month.
  • Regions and ICBs are on current boundaries, with every earlier month rebuilt on them, so a merger does not show up as a change.

Anyone can repeat this from the source publication: NHS England, Patients Registered at a GP Practice.

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