Parliamentary Question on the number of prescriptions for antidepressants that have been issued in each year since 2014; what was the annual cost to the National Health Service of those prescriptions; and what guidance is given to doctors and patients about the use of antidepressants, their subsequent withdrawal and potential long-term effect.

Feb 10, 2024 | News

Lord Markham, the Department of Health and Social Care, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL2020):

Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 July 2015 (HL1632), how many prescriptions for antidepressants have been issued in each year since 2014; what was the annual cost to the National Health Service of those prescriptions; and what guidance is given to doctors and patients about the use of antidepressants, their subsequent withdrawal and potential long-term effects. (HL2020)

Tabled on: 30 January 2024

Answer:
Lord Markham:

The following table shows the latest data available on the number of prescriptions for antidepressants issued between 2014 and 2023, and the associated net ingredient cost:

Time PeriodTotal Number of ItemsTotal Net Ingredient Cost (£)
201457,149,109265,008,699
201561,021,662284,746,655
201664,703,639266,562,024
201767,530,457235,076,090
201870,873,979202,526,720
201974,814,621201,729,659
202078,866,866352,682,886
202182,620,542288,099,250
202285,404,864224,648,497
2023 (11 months)80,970,256211,852,277

The requirement to provide a patient information leaflet with licensed medicines in the United Kingdom is set out in Regulation 267 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. As set out in Schedule 27 of these regulations, the information that must be presented in the leaflet includes special warnings relevant to the safe use of the medicine, and instructions for proper use, including the risk of withdrawal effects and description of all side effects, both long and short term. The leaflet must reflect in lay language, the agreed Summary of Product Characteristics for a medicine, which would include information on risk of addiction, withdrawal and the long-term consequences of taking a medicine. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also set outs guidelines for the management and treatment of depression in adults.

Date and time of answer: 05 Feb 2024 at 16:18.

Lord David Alton

For 18 years David Alton was a Member of the House of Commons and today he is an Independent Crossbench Life Peer in the UK House of Lords.

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