Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prescriptions have been issued for (1) antidepressants, (2) anxiolytics, (3) sedatives and hypnotics, and (4) antipsychotics, in the last six months; how many prescriptions in each of these categories were new prescriptions; and how these figures compare with the same period last year.
The information requested is provided in the following tables by the NHS Business Services Authority:
| Number of items | |||
Month and Year | Antidepressants | Anxiolytics | Barbiturates and Hypnotics | Antipsychotics |
October 2018 | 6,242,966 | 559,541 | 738,497 | 1,059,542 |
November 2018 | 6,105,746 | 538,508 | 715,005 | 1,030,777 |
December 2018 | 6,043,242 | 527,892 | 704,835 | 1,022,515 |
January 2019 | 6,279,989 | 547,545 | 743,385 | 1,052,933 |
February 2019 | 5,680,329 | 492,331 | 656,344 | 955,569 |
March 2019 | 6,153,299 | 527,789 | 699,736 | 1,021,958 |
| Number of items | |||
Month and Year | Antidepressants | Anxiolytics | Barbiturates and Hypnotics | Antipsychotics |
October 2019 | 6,574,909 | 547,721 | 720,362 | 1,091,403 |
November 2019 | 6,324,255 | 515,711 | 683,198 | 1,045,301 |
December 2019 | 6,428,992 | 525,749 | 698,338 | 1,067,155 |
January 2020 | 6,701,671 | 539,735 | 733,003 | 1,098,917 |
February 2020 | 6,097,134 | 490,517 | 653,315 | 997,909 |
March 2020 | 6,828,732 | 529,601 | 704,071 | 1,080,136 |
The data provided is for prescriptions prescribed and dispensed in England only. The time periods covered are October 2019 – March 2020 inclusive and also October 2018 – March 2019 for comparison. March 2020 is the most recent dataset available.
The term ‘items’ refers to the number of times a product appears on a prescription form, and not the quantity prescribed. Any secondary indications or unlicensed uses of any of these medicines will not be apparent from the data.
The NHS Business Services Authority does not have enough information to determine if a prescription is ‘new’ for a particular patient.