Around 23 million antidepressant items were prescribed to an estimated 6.9 million patients in England between April and June this year, according to official figures.

NHS Business Services Authority said the latest data revealed a 1.5 per cent increase on items and less than a one per cent rise in patients compared with the previous quarter.

The cost of antidepressant items rose by 1.7 per cent between April and June compared with the previous quarter, rising from £54 million to £55 million. 

The data also revealed 800,000 CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD items were prescribed to 230,000 patients from April to June.

Items for ADHD increased by 4.8 per cent and identified patients rose 4.7 per cent on the previous quarter. The biggest change in costs was found in CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD which rose by 6.4 per cent to £36 million.

The prescribing of hypnotics and anxiolytics items went down by less than one per cent to 3.3 million while the number of patients decreased by 2.5 per cent to one million.

The cost of prescribed hypnotics and anxiolytics items decreased by 2.4 per cent to £25 million.

For drugs used in psychoses and related disorders, 3.4 million items were prescribed which was a 0.9 per cent increase. The number of patients prescribed those drugs decreased by less than one per cent to 660,000.

The cost of prescribed antipsychotic items increased by 6.2 per cent to £41 million.

Items for dementia drugs increased by 2.4 per cent to 1.2 million while 260,000 patients were prescribed the drugs, an increase of one per cent.

The cost of prescribed drugs for dementia fell by two per cent compared with the previous quarter to £7.8 million.