Ashya King, the boy with a brain tumour whose parents disappeared with him to Spain because they did not want the kind of radiotherapy available in the UK, will have his treatment paid for by the NHS after all, it has been revealed.

NHS England has agreed to fund proton beam therapy for Ashya under the reciprocal healthcare arrangements that exist within the EU, on the basis that the five-year-old needs a course of radiotherapy as a matter of urgency and, if he is to recover, he must have it now in Prague, where he has been taken by his family.

Ashya’s case had previously been turned down by a specialist expert panel of doctors, on the basis that proton beam therapy offers no benefit that the child could not get from standard radiotherapy in the UK.

The specialist panel examines all the cases of children who might benefit from proton beam therapy brought to them by NHS hospitals and can make the decision to send them abroad – usually to the United States – for treatment.

The U-turn by NHS England, because of the application within the EU rules rather than normal NHS protocol, may make other parents who would prefer proton beam therapy to standard radiotherapy for their child, seek to take them abroad.

In Ashya’s case, however, doctors were clear that proton beams offered no advantage, because the entire brain and spine would have to be irradiated, whichever method was used.

In a statement, NHS England said: “Our thoughts are with Ashya and his family as he begins follow-on radiotherapy. Now that Ashya is in Prague, it is clearly best that Ashya continues to be treated uninterrupted so the NHS has agreed to fund this care, as requested by his parents, in accordance with relevant European cross-border arrangements. We all join in wishing him well, and greatly hope he makes a full and successful recovery.”