Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children in England have been issued puberty blockers since 2019.

We have always been clear that children’s safety and well-being is paramount, so we welcomed NHS England’s landmark decision to ban routine use puberty blockers to children experiencing gender dysphoria. This decision was based on the available evidence and expert clinical opinion.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists or puberty blockers are used to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These can include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, endometriosis, and gender dysphoria.

Information on the clinical indication for which these medications have been prescribed is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of identifiable patients prescribed and dispensed gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists for all purposes, in primary and secondary care in England from 2019 to September 2022:

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Note: Prescriptions have only been included where a National Health Service number has been identified during processing, and an age has been recorded. The same patients may appear in multiple years.