The latest NHS Business Services Authority quarterly report on medicines used in mental health in England has revealed the number of antidepressant items prescribed increased.

Between July and September this year, 23 million antidepressant items were prescribed to around 6.9 million identified patients, a 1.4 per cent increase in items and about a one per cent rise in patients compared with the previous quarter.

The cost of antidepressant items also increased by 9.4 per cent from the previous quarter, going from £55 million to £60 million.

The number of drugs prescribed for dementia increased by 3.2 per cent to 1.2 million while the number of patients went up by 1.8 per cent to 268,000 at a cost of £7.8 million.

The number of hypnotics and anxiolytics items prescribed increased by less than one per cent to 3.4 million at a cost of £23 million and the number of patients rose by less than one per cent to one million.

For medicines used in psychoses and related disorders, 3.5 million items were prescribed to 657,000 patients, a 2.1 per cent and less than 0.1 per cent increase in items and patients respectively.

The number of items for CNS stimulants and ADHD drugs increased by 1.3 per cent to 806,000 while there was a less than one per cent increase in patients to 234,000.

There was also a 17 per cent increase in the cost of antipsychotic prescribing from the previous quarter to £48 million.