FOI-02884

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

__Request__

<p><i>‘How many under 18s in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last year between 1 Jan 2024 and 1 May 2025?</i></p>  

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for five to ten years?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last year between 1 Jan 2024 and 1 May 2025?</i></p>  

<p><i>How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?</i></p> 

<p><i>How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England  have been using anti-depressants for five to ten years?</i></p> 

<p><i>Please can the answers to above questions all be divided into county/integrated care board/gender</i></p> 

<p><i>In the last ten years how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?</i></p> 

<p><i>Please divide by county/ integrated care board</i></p> 

<p><i>In the last year how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?</i></p> 

<p><i>Please divide by county/ integrated care board’</i></p> 

__[On 11 June 2025 we sent you the following clarification request]__

__Question 1 - How many under 18s in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?__

We cannot answer this question directly as we do not know about all prescriptions. We only hold data for prescriptions that have been presented to a community pharmacy in England for dispensing which has then been claimed for payment from the NHS by that pharmacy. We do not hold data about unclaimed prescriptions, private prescriptions or medicines dispensed in hospitals or prisons.   

We also do not know if patients are taking the drugs that have been dispensed.  

We can answer this question on the basis that we tell you about the number of medicines that have been dispensed in the community if that is acceptable.  

__Question 2 - How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last year between 1 Jan 2024 and 1 May 2025?__

We need clarification about what you mean by "come off their tablets". There are two questions:  

Should we presume that you mean all medicines in the BNF section described above regardless of the form, or do you want it restricted to just tablets?  

The only way we could tell if someone is no longer being dispensed the medicine is to wait to see if they don't have a prescription dispensed for some time. We could, for example, look for someone who was dispensed an antidepressant and then wasn't dispensed one in the following three months. Please describe the parameters that you would like us to use.  

Please note that the latest data that we currently hold in a processed format is from March 2025. If you were to use the three-month definition as suggested that would mean that the latest data we could provide is for prescriptions dispensed in December 2024 as we would need three "clear" months to be able to say that they were no longer being dispensed these medicines.  

__Question 3 - How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?__

This requires the same clarification as question 2. We also need clarification about cases where someone has a break but then restarts an antidepressant medicine. Would you like us to include these cases?  

__Question 4 - How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?__

We need clarification about what you mean by "using". We could, for example, give all of the patients who have been dispensed one of these medicines at least every 3 months for the last two years (up to March 2025). Please give us a definition that you would like us to use.  

__Question 5 - How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for five to ten years?__

This requires the same clarification as question 4. Can you also please clarify how you would like us to report someone who is now aged over 18 but has been dispensed these medicines for a long time and was therefore having them dispensed when they were under 18. For example, a 20-year-old who has been having them dispensed for 5 years would have started at the age of 15.  

__Question 6 - How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?__

This requires the same clarification as question 1.  

__Question 7 - How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last year between 1 Jan 2024 and 1 May 2025?__

This requires the same clarification as question 2.  

__Question 8 - How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?__

This requires the same clarification as question 3.   

__Question 9 - How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?__

This requires the same clarification as question 4.  

__Question 10 - How many 18-30 year olds in the East of England  have been using anti-depressants for five to ten years?__

This requires the same clarification as question 5.  

__Question 10A - Please can the answers to above questions all be divided into county/integrated care board/gender?__

We do not hold this data by county. We can divide it by Integrated Care Board and Gender if that is acceptable.  

__Question 11 - In the last ten years how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?__

We presume that you mean the fees paid by the patients to the pharmacies. If you mean something different, please clarify.  

__Question 11A - Please divide by county/ integrated care board__

As for point 10A, we do not hold this data by county. We can divide it by Integrated Care Board and Gender if that is acceptable.  

__Question 12 - In the last year how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?__

As with question 11, we presume that you mean the fees paid by the patients to the pharmacies. If you mean something different, please clarify.  

__Question 12A - Please divide by county/ integrated care board__

As for point 10A, we do not hold this data by county. We can divide it by Integrated Care Board and Gender if that is acceptable. 

__[On 16 June 2025 you clarified your request as follows]__

__Question 1 - How many under 18s in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?__

<p><i>If you can tell me about the number of medicines dispensed in community pharmacies in the East of England that will be fine.</i></p>  

__Question 2 - How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last year between 1 Jan 2024 and 1 May 2025?__

<p><i>In that case, please can you tell me how many under 18s in the East of England were dispensed anti-depressants (regardless of form) in December 2024 but not again in the following three months to March 2025?</i></p>  

__Question 3 - How many under 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?__

<p><i>Please apply the same approach as I have requested for question 2. But only include those who have not resumed their medication.</i></p>  

__Question 4 - How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?__

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England have been dispensed anti-depressants at least every 3 months for the last two years (up to March 2025)?</i></p> 

__Question 5 - How many under 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for five to ten years?__

<p><i>How many under 18s in the East of England have been dispensed anti-depressants at least every 3 months for the last ten years (up to March 2025)?</i></p> 

<p><i>Please report it based on when they started receiving the medicine. So, if you tell me a 14 year old has been receiving anti-depressants I will gather they are now about 24 years old.</i></p>  

__Question 6 - How many over 18s in the East of England are currently taking/prescribed anti-depressants?__

<p><i>I have changed this question to make it easier.</i></p>  

__Question 7 - How many over 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants were dispensed their medication in December 2024 but not again in the following three months to March 2025?__

<p><i>Changed the question.</i></p>  

__Question 8 - How many over 18s in the East of England prescribed anti-depressants came off their tablets in the last five years?__

<p><i>Please apply the same approach as I have requested for question 2. But only include those who have not resumed their medication.</i></p>  

__Question 9 - How many over 18s in the East of England have been using anti-depressants for more than two years?__

<p><i>Changed the question slightly. Please see answer to question 4.</i></p> 

__Question 10 - How many over 18s in the East of England  have been using anti-depressants for ten years?__

<p><i>Please see answer to question 5.</i></p>  

__Question 10A - Please can the answers to above questions all be divided into county/integrated care board/gender?__

<p><i>That is acceptable.</i></p>  

__Question 11 - In the last ten years how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?__

<p><i>That is correct.</i></p>  

__Question 11A - Please divide by county/ integrated care board__

<p><i>That is acceptable.</i></p>  

__Question 12 - In the last year how much money have patients in the East of England spent on anti-depressants prescriptions?__

<p><i>That is correct.</i></p> 

__Question 12A - Please divide by county/ integrated care board__

<p><i>That is acceptable.’</i></p>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 30 May 2025, with clarification received on 16 June 2025.  

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). 

__Our response__

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, and a copy of the information is attached. 

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data. 

NHS Prescription Services process prescriptions for pharmacy contractors, appliance contractors, dispensing doctors and personal administration with information then used to make payments to pharmacists and appliance contractors in England for prescriptions dispensed in primary care settings (other arrangements are in place for making payments to dispensing doctors and personal administration). This involves processing over 1 billion prescription items and payments totalling over £9 billion each year. The information gathered from this process is then used to provide information on costs and trends in prescribing in England and Wales to over 25,000 registered NHS and Department of Health and Social Care users. 

__Data source__

The data source was the NHSBSA Information Services Data Warehouse. 

The data excludes: 

• items not dispensed, disallowed and those returned to the contractor for further clarification.  

• prescriptions prescribed and dispensed in prisons, hospitals and private prescriptions. 

• items prescribed but not presented for dispensing or not submitted to NHS Prescription Services by the dispenser. 

__Organisation data__

The data provided is for prescriptions issued in the East of England region and then dispensed in community pharmacies across England. Regarding your questions that include specific time limits, patients may have been prescribed antidepressants in other regions but are excluded if they were not prescribed at least once in East of England during the specified time. 

__Drugs__

The data is limited to prescriptions for medicines in British National Formulary (BNF): Section 04.03 (antidepressant drugs) 

__Identified patients__

For Questions 1 to 10, prescriptions are only included in the data if an NHS Number was captured during NHSBSA processing. 

Where patient identifiable figures were reported, they are based on information captured during the prescription processing activities. 

98.98% of patients were identified for the 10-year period considered by this FOI response. This means that 1.02% of patients were not identified for the 10-year period as their NHS Numbers were not captured. 

Patient gender has been reported using the latest patient gender information held by the NHSBSA Information Services data warehouse at the time that the data was extracted. This uses information from either the most recent Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) message or from the last time that NHSBSA received data about the patient's gender from NHS Personal Demographics Service. Gender is either: Male, Female, Not Known (where no information is held) or Indeterminate (where information is held which does not confirm either Male or Female). 

__Data__

A total of 13 files are provided within this FOI response. The main  

file “FOI_02884_DATA” contains the data to answer your questions. The other 12 files give the same data broken down by sub-integrated care board locations (SICBL) and gender. The total patient counts are higher in the breakdown files due to some patients being prescribed medicines in more than one SICBL in some months; in this case they are shown in both SICBLs. 

The data provided (and caveats if applicable)  

__Question 1__

The number of individual patients aged under 18 prescribed antidepressants between January and March 2025.  

You should note that there are patients included in this data who turned 18 years old during this period. This means there are individuals who are counted both here and in our response to Question 6. 

__Question 2__

The number of individual patients aged under 18 prescribed antidepressants during December 2024, and then not prescribed any antidepressants between January and March 2025 (regardless of their age in 2025). 

__Question 3__

The number of individual patients aged under 18 prescribed antidepressants between January 2020 and December 2024, and then not prescribed any antidepressants between January and March 2025 (regardless of their age in 2025). 

__Question 4__

The number of individual patients aged under 18 prescribed antidepressants without a break longer than three months between April 2023 and March 2025. 

__Question 5__

The number of individual patients aged under 18 prescribed antidepressants without a break longer than three months between April 2015 and March 2025. 

__Question 6__

The number of individual patients aged 18 or over prescribed antidepressants between January and March 2025. You should note that there are patients included in this data who turned 18 years old during this period. This means that there are individuals who are counted both here and in our response to Question 1. 

__Question 7__

The number of individual patients aged 18 or over prescribed antidepressants during December 2024 and then not prescribed any antidepressants in this region between January and March 2025. 

__Question 8__

The number of individual patients aged 18 or over prescribed antidepressants between January 2020 and December 2024 and then not prescribed any antidepressants between January and March 2025. 

__Question 9__

The number of individual patients prescribed antidepressants without a break longer than three months between April 2023 and March 2025 who were aged 18 or over at the date of their latest prescription. 

__Question 10__

The number of individual patients prescribed antidepressants without a break longer than three months between April 2015 and March 2025 who were aged 18 or over at the date of their latest prescription. 

__Question 11__

The total cost of prescription charges collected from patients between April 2015 and March 2025 in pound sterling; based on whether items were submitted as ‘chargeable at current rate’ or ‘chargeable at previous rate’.  

You should note that the data for this question does not include the following: 

patients who have a prepayment certificate 

patients who are exempt from paying prescription charges   

Unidentified patients are included. 

__Question 12__

The total cost of prescription charges collected from patients between April 2015 and March 2025 in pound sterling; based on whether items were submitted as ‘chargeable at current rate’ or ‘chargeable at previous rate’.  

You should note that the data for this question does not include the following:  

patients who have a prepayment certificate  

patients who are exempt from paying prescription charges 

Unidentified patients are included. 

__Data Queries__

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a> ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. 

__Reusing the data and copyright__

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data, please contact <a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/  

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence. 

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information. 

Tags: Anti-depressants, Antidepressants, NHS Prescriptions
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log