Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Children
(asked on 26th November 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the total annual NHS expenditure on GnRH analogue puberty blockers for under-18s in each financial year since 2010.
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) 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, and endometriosis. They have also been used outside of their licenced indication to treat gender dysphoria.
There is no central registry that provides the total number of children in England who have been prescribed GnRH agonists through the National Health Service since 2010.
The following table shows the number of identifiable patients and total net ingredient cost for NHS prescriptions of GnRH agonists for all purposes for children aged 17 years old and under that were prescribed and dispensed in community pharmacies or general practices in England in each year from 2015/2016 to September 2025:
Financial year | The unique number of identified patients aged 17 years old and under who received an NHS prescription of GnRH for all purposes | The total net ingredient cost of prescriptions known to be issued to those aged 17 and under who received an NHS prescription of GnRH for all purposes |
2015/16 | 885 | £621,033.41 |
2016/17 | 987 | £692,927.42 |
2017/18 | 1,047 | £772,767.71 |
2018/19 | 1,072 | £806,393.82 |
2019/20 | 1,048 | £781,151.72 |
2020/21 | 936 | £703,531.55 |
2021/22 | 864 | £607,597.80 |
2022/23 | 849 | £586,845.56 |
2023/24 | 746 | £525,321.93 |
2024/25 | 622 | £449,611.72 |
2025/2026 | 432 | £219,338.73 |
Source: ePACT2, which sources data from the NHS Business Services Authority’s Information Services Data Warehouse.
Note: the net ingredient cost is the basic price of a product excluding VAT. It does not take account of discounts, rebates, dispensing costs, fees, and allowances paid to pharmacists and appliance contractors for the service they provide to the NHS, or prescription charge income received, where the single charge or Prescription Prepayment Certificate fee is paid, or foregone where prescriptions are dispensed free of charge.
The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold patient data prior to April 2015. This data excludes dispensing in secondary care and other settings, and private prescriptions.