The number of adults in England prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2023/24 increased by 27.7% compared to the previous year, NHS data revealed last week (July 11).

A new NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) report into “medicines used in mental health” in England for 2023/24 also showed a 9.9% increase in children prescribed medication for ADHD compared to 2022/23.

But the number of adult patients has “increased more rapidly” and they have now overtaken the number of child patients in the last two years, it said.

Read more: Guanfacine ADHD medication ‘out of stock’ until May

It means there are an estimated 153,000 identified adult patients and 124,000 identified child patients with prescriptions for ADHD, with male patients accounting for 63% of all patients, the data showed.

The report also revealed that the number of central nervous system (CNS) stimulants and drugs used for ADHD prescribed reached 2.9 million for 2023/24, which is a 14.6% increase compared to 2022/23.

This follows an increase every year since 2015/16, with a greater rate of increase occurring since 2020/21, it said.

 

“Trawl around pharmacies”

 

The demand for ADHD medication follows warnings from the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) last year that manufacturing issues were behind “safety critical” shortages of a plethora of ADHD drugs that lasted months.

Shortages continued as recently as May when guanfacine ADHD medication was out of stock.

Read more: ‘New normal’ of medicine shortages a ‘significant burden on pharmacists’

But the issue of ADHD medicine shortages persists in England, with a Labour councillor this week (July 16) tabling a motion at a Portsmouth city council meeting blaming Brexit for the supply issues.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Tom Coles called on the council to “work locally and nationally to improve the supply of these vital medications”, saying that patients have had to “trawl around pharmacies” to search for ADHD medication.

Read more: Pharmacies field calls from 'anxious' patients as ADHD med shortages persist

He said that “one of those wonderful benefits of our country leaving the EU” is that supplies are distributed to Europe before the UK “gets a look in”.

“I’d like to thank David Cameron, Nigel Farage, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, and all the others involved, for ruining the lives of people with ADHD in Portsmouth and across the UK”, he added.

 

15% of public on antidepressants

 

The NHS BSA report also set out data on medication used for other mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and dementia.

Read more: Manufacturing issues behind ‘safety critical’ ADHD drug shortage, DH warns

It revealed that 89 million antidepressant items were prescribed in 2023/24 - a 3.3% increase compared to 2022/23 - to an estimated 8.7 million identified patients.

This represents 5.7 million female patients and three million male patients in 2023/24, accounting for around 15% of the population in England according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).