Antidepressants: Prescriptions
(asked on 15th January 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many anti-depressant prescriptions were prescribed to patients under the age of 19 by (1) psychiatrists, (2) general practitioners, and (3) other medical specialists, in each year since 2015.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) does not hold data on anti-depressant prescriptions authorised by psychiatrists specifically, but does hold data for the following three categories: hospital prescriber; general practitioner prescriber; and additional prescriber.
This answer is based on the information extracted from the NHSBSA’s ePACT2 database, using British National Formulary section 0403 for antidepressant drugs, prescribed in England.
The following table shows the total number of prescriptions for antidepressant items prescribed to patients aged 18 years old and under, by prescriber type, for the financial years 2015 to 2024, and the financial year to date for 2024/25, from April to October:
Financial year | General practitioner prescriber | Hospital prescriber | Additional prescriber including non-medical prescriber | Total items |
2015/16 | 515,803 | 8,737 | 8,873 | 533,413 |
2016/17 | 551,901 | 6,143 | 11,056 | 569,100 |
2017/18 | 580,772 | 5,853 | 14,254 | 600,879 |
2018/19 | 611,785 | 7,150 | 17,681 | 636,616 |
2019/20 | 640,218 | 11,832 | 23,367 | 675,417 |
2020/21 | 648,252 | 11,334 | 30,274 | 689,860 |
2021/22 | 702,546 | 12,975 | 33,895 | 749,416 |
2022/23 | 720,132 | 16,917 | 36,994 | 774,043 |
2023/24 | 692,467 | 20,393 | 38,775 | 751,635 |
2024/25 | 384,561 | 14,755 | 24,381 | 423,697 |