NHSBSA publishes 2024/25 ‘Medicines Used in Mental Health’ statistics for England

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has released its annual Medicines Used in Mental Health summary statistics, revealing that mental health prescriptions have reached their highest levels.

The report includes data on five British National Formulary (BNF) sections of medicines; antidepressants, hypnotics and anxiolytics, drugs for dementia, drugs used in psychoses and related disorders, and central nervous system (CNS) stimulants and drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It also provides information exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the use of medicines used to treat mental health in England.

It covers the period of April 2015 to March 2025 (Q4 of 2024/25) for patients in England.

Key findings for 2024/25 show that:   

• there were 92.6 million antidepressant items prescribed to an estimated 8.89 million identified patients
• antidepressant drug prescribing increased by 3.94% since 2023/24
• four out of the five BNF categories had higher prescribing in the most deprived areas in England
• CNS stimulants and ADHD drug prescribing increased by 24.3% for adults and by 9.48% for children from 2023/24
• there were 3.38 million CNS stimulants and ADHD drug items prescribed to 326,000 identified patients
• drugs prescribed for dementia are at their highest levels since 2015/16, with 4.79 million items prescribed to 326,000 identified patients
• 13.4 million hypnotics and anxiolytics items were prescribed to 1.85 million identified patients
• there were 163 barbiturate items prescribed – a 97% decrease since 2015/16
• data shows that there were more female patients prescribed hypnotic and anxiolytic drugs than male patients
• there were 13.9 million antipsychotic items prescribed to 873,000 identified patients
• more female patients were prescribed antipsychotics than male patients in most age bands
• there were twice as many identified patients prescribed antipsychotics in the most deprived areas versus the least deprived

To read the report in full, go to: Medicines used in mental health – England – 2015/16 to 2024/25 | NHSBSA 

For all Medicines Used in Mental Health reports go to: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/medicines-used-mental-health-england 

The British National Formulary is a key resource for prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines. The five sections of the BNF included in this report cover medicines that are primarily used to treat anxiety, depression, psychosis, ADHD and dementia. We do not capture the clinical indication of a prescription, so there may be instances where these drugs are used for other conditions.

A prescription item is a single unit of medication listed separately on a prescription form. For example, in this report, an item might be listed as Fluoxetine 20mg tabletsx56 – distinct from other medications that may be prescribed on the same form.

A patient is a unique NHS number captured from a prescription form or electronic prescription services (EPS) message.

Medicines primarily used in mental health can sometimes be prescribed for other ailments.

The NHS Business Services Authority is an Arm’s Length Body of the Department of Health and Social Care. We manage over £100 billion of NHS spend annually and are responsible for providing platforms and delivering services that support the priorities of the NHS, Government and local health economies. Our purpose is to deliver business service excellence to the NHS to help people live longer, healthier lives.

For more information about the NHSBSA, please visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk