Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2025 to Question 65186 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, which pharmaceutical companies are registered as marketing authorisation holders for (a) dry powder inhalers containing (i) salbutamol and (ii) terbutaline and (b) pressurised metered dose inhalers containing salbutamol.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the four market authorisation holders (MAH) for dry power inhalers (DPIs) containing salbutamol and terbutaline, along with the three MAHs for pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs):
Pharmaceutical company | Inhaler type | Medicine |
Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd | DPI | Salbutamol |
Orion Corp | DPI | Salbutamol |
Maylan Products Ltd | DPI | Salbutamol |
Astrazeneca UK Ltd Pharmacovigilance | DPI | Terbutaline |
Sandoz B.V. | pMDI | Salbutamol |
Kent Pharma UK Ltd | pMDI | Salbutamol |
Cipla (EU) Ltd | pMDI | Salbutamol |
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62446 on Schools: Asthma, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) purchase of and (b) storage for emergency inhalers in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold data on emergency inhalers in schools.
Under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units must make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Schools are responsible for deciding how best to fulfil this duty. They are permitted to buy salbutamol inhalers, without a prescription, for use in emergencies, but there is no requirement to do so.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools (a) had and (b) did not have emergency inhalers installed on their grounds in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold data on emergency inhalers in schools.
Under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units must make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Schools are responsible for deciding how best to fulfil this duty. They are permitted to buy salbutamol inhalers, without a prescription, for use in emergencies, but there is no requirement to do so.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered the merits of a Palestinian refugee visa scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 13 March to Question 35970.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62448 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, how many patients with asthma receive their inhaler prescriptions (a) free of charge and (b) at the current prescription charge in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the NHS Business Services Authority collects data for the number of specific prescription items dispensed in England, it is not possible to determine the indication for which a medicine was prescribed. Given inhalers can be used to treat medical conditions other than asthma, for example chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, we are unable to determine how many were dispensed for the treatment of asthma.
From February to April 2025, dispensers in the community in England issued inhalation products to approximately 3,751,000 unique patients who did not pay a charge at the point of dispensing. This total includes items where no charge was collected due to a patient holding a valid pre-payment certificate.
Furthermore, from February to April 2025, dispensers in the community in England issued inhalation products to approximately 492,000 unique patients who did pay a charge at the point of dispensing. Figures are approximate, as a unique patient cannot always be identified from a paper prescription.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62444 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, what steps his Department is taking to encourage an increase in the number of market authorisation holders for dosage counters for emergency inhalers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has not taken steps to increase the number of marketing authorisation holders for short-acting beta agonist pressurised metered-dose inhalers with integrated dose counters. As the United Kingdom’s independent regulator for medicines and medical devices, the MHRA promotes patient safety and supports improvements in product design but does not have the remit to direct or influence the commercial decisions of pharmaceutical companies. The MHRA can provide scientific and regulatory advice to support potential new entrants to the market, but cannot compel or incentivise companies to apply for marketing authorisation for specific products.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asthma patients receiving their inhaler prescriptions (a) free of charge and (b) at the current prescription charge have been admitted to hospitals with life-threatening asthma attacks in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and its arm’s-length bodies, including the NHS Business Services Authority, do not collect this information.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asthma attacks that resulted in hospital admissions occurred in schools that (a) had emergency inhalers and (b) did not have emergency inhalers installed on their grounds.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62444 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, how many pharmaceutical companies are registered as marketing authorisation holders for dosage counters in emergency inhalers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency understands the term “emergency asthma inhalers” in this context to refer to inhalers containing short-acting beta agonist, such as salbutamol and terbutaline, licensed for the rapid relief of symptoms during acute asthma attacks or bronchospasm, as well as for the prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm.
There are typically two types of inhalers used, pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDI), often described as an ‘aerosol’ or ‘spray’ inhaler, and dry powder inhalers (DPI). Pressurised metered dose inhalers may be used more commonly in the United Kingdom.
All the currently licensed DPIs containing salbutamol or terbutaline include dose counters or dose indicators. There are four registered marketing authorisation holders in total.
None of the currently licensed pMDIs containing salbutamol for this emergency indication include dose counters or dose indicators. There are currently no licensed pMDIs containing terbutaline.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to incorporate targets to provide asthma sufferers with a Personalised Asthma Action Plan into future iterations of the 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of Personalised Asthma Action Plans is already incentivised by the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator AST007. This indicator measures the percentage of patients on the asthma register who have had a review in the past 12 months. This review must include:
- an assessment using a validated asthma control questionnaire;
- a record of the number of exacerbations;
- an assessment of inhaler technique; and
- a written personalised asthma plan.
The latest QOF data shows that for England, the percentage of asthma patients on the register receiving this care has increased from 52.5% in 2021/22 to 64.6% in 2023/24.
Further details on the QOF asthma indicators are available on pages 41 to 46 of NHS England’s 2025/26 QOF guidance, which is available at the following link:
Therefore, there are currently no plans for future iterations of the 10-Year Health Plan for England.