{"value":{"id":1821583,"memberId":347,"member":null,"memberRole":"Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health","uin":"HLWS802","dateMade":"2025-07-10T00:00:00","answeringBodyId":17,"answeringBodyName":"Department of Health and Social Care","title":"Correction of Written Parliamentary Question","text":"

On the 25 March 2024 written Parliamentary Question HL2972, tabled by Lord Alton of Liverpool, was answered by Lord Markham.

It has been brought to my attention by Lord Alton, via the secretariat co-ordinator for the Beyond Pills All Party Parliamentary Group, that this answer contains an omission in the title of the table which accompanied the narrative. The title of the table did not clearly state that the table contained information on the number of items prescribed and not the number of patients who were prescribed antidepressants during the period in question.

To ask His Majesty's Government how many antidepressant prescriptions were issued to patients under the age of 25 in each year since 2014.

Through this Written Ministerial Statement, I would like to apologise on behalf of the Department and clarify the situation with regards to the title of the table in this response. The Department takes its responsibility for parliamentary accountability very seriously.

The answer to the question should be:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many antidepressant prescriptions were issued to patients under the age of 25 in each year since 2014:

Many medicines, including medicines used to treat depression, are licensed and prescribed for other conditions. The Department expects prescribers to always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed.

The following table shows the total number of antidepressant items prescribed to patients aged under 18 and 25 years old, each year from 2015 to 2023:

Total Items issued to Age Range (under 18)

Total Items issued to Age Range (under 25)

Year

Total antidepressant items prescribed to age range under 18

Total antidepressant items prescribed to age range under 25 years old

2015/16

312,113

2,477,798

2016/17

332,706

2,759,953

2017/18

346,126

2,910,607

2018/19

367,850

3,202,784

2019/20

393,762

3,525,602

2020/21

406,391

3,890,347

2021/22

437,365

4,170,154

2022/23

448,515

4,119,463

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

  1. This is based on the information within the published statistics for medicines used in mental health, that uses British National Formulary section 0403 for antidepressant drugs, prescribed in England and dispensed in the community in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands.
  2. Prescriptions do not state the purpose for which they are written, so there may be instances where medicines are used for other conditions.
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