The number of patients prescribed antidepressants increased steadily between April and June this year while almost 22 million antidepressant items were prescribed during that three-month period, according to the latest official figures.

The NHS Business Services Authority revealed 4,530,000 patients were prescribed items in April, rising to 4,730,000 in May and 4,760,000 in June.

The number of items also increased over that three-month period, going from 6,930,000 items in April, to 7,410,000 in May and 7,520,000 in June.

In the first quarter of 2023-24, nearly 22 million antidepressant items were prescribed, 6.7 million identified patients received an antidepressant while the cost of prescribed antidepressant items during that quarter was £60 million.

Between April and June this year, 710,000 CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD items were prescribed to around 200,000 patients while the combined cost of those drugs was £30 million.

In the same period, 3.4 million hypnotics and anxiolytics items were prescribed to one million patients at a cost of £29 million, while 1.1 million dementia drugs were prescribed to 250,000 patients at a cost of £6.7 million. About 650,000 patients were prescribed 3.3 million antipsychotic items at a cost of £41 million.