Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people (a) on the prescription charge exemption list, (b) over 60 years old, (c) on the NHS low income scheme and (d) on benefits that qualify them for free prescriptions received free prescriptions for each condition in the last five years.

A list of people who are exempt from prescription charges is not collected or held centrally. The NHS Business Services Authority collects data on the number of prescription items that are exempt from charges. For the financial year 2022/23, 95% of all items dispensed were exempt from prescription charges due to items being covered by a prescription prepayment certificate or exempt from charges because the person or medicine was covered by an existing exemption.