Written question asked by Caroline Johnson (Conservative) on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 June 2026 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Tuesday, 16 June 2026. A substantive answer was provided by Preet Kaur Gill (Labour) on Monday, 22 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children received drugs provided free of charge to the NHS for compassionate reasons in each year from 2021 to 2026.

Answer: The information requested is not held centrally. Pharmaceutical companies can establish compassionate use or early access programmes through which medicines may be made available to National Health Service patients free of charge ahead of an NHS commissioning decision. Such schemes operate outside the established commissioning arrangements for medicines and neither the Department nor NHS England collects information on the number of patients receiving medicines through compassionate use schemes.

Secondary information