ADHD drugs prescribing rises again, costing NHS £44m a quarter

NHS figures show an ongoing rise in drugs prescribed for ADHD at a cost to the health service of £44m between April and June this year.

The quarterly data from the NHS Business Services Authority showed that for CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD, the number of prescribed items increased by 6% to 965,000.

There was also a 7% increase in identified patients, to 284,000, the report on mental health drugs shows.

It corresponded with an almost 5% increase in drugs costs, the data shows.

There has been an ongoing steady rise in use of ADHD medicines with no end in sight to the upward trend.

GPs have told Pulse their workload around prescribing for ADHD has increased and stopping some of this formed part of collective action agreements. 

In September, researchers warned that regional variation on shared-care arrangements for ADHD medicine prescribing must be addressed to ensure equitable access. 

This month, the primary care minister Stephen Kinnock defended GPs’ right to decline ADHD shared care arrangements from specialist doctors. 

Mr Kinnock referred to GMC prescribing guidance which says shared care decisions should not be based on ‘convenience or the cost of the medicine and associated monitoring or follow-up’. 

An ADHD taskforce set up by NHS England to improve care of people with the condition has recommended that general practice takes a greater role in managing it.

The first report from the taskforce, commissioned by NHS England last year, recommends a shift to ‘accessible, regulated and generalist models of care in the community, including primary care and other sectors outside the NHS’.

In 2023/24 there had been a 28% increase in the number of ADHD drugs prescribed for adults, NHS BSA had said.

The latest figures also showed that drugs for dementia increased by 3% to 1.2 million, and the number of identified patients increased by 1% to 277,000.

There were 23 million antidepressant items prescribed to an estimated 7 million identified patients in the last quarter.

The report includes data about medicines from five British National Formulary (BNF) sections primarily used to treat anxiety, depression, psychosis, ADHD and dementia. 

From April 2025 to June 2025, the cost of prescribed CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD was £44m – a 4.7% increase when compared to January 2025 to March 2025 data.  

The cost increase reflects a 6% increase in the number of CNS stimulants and ADHD drug items prescribed, with 965,000 items prescribed to an estimated 284,000 identified patients.  

Other key findings show that between April and June 2025:

• 1.2 million drugs for dementia were prescribed to an estimated 277,000 identified patients, at a cost of £8.4m. 

• 23 million antidepressant items were prescribed to an estimated 7 million identified patients, at a cost of £55m.

• 3.5 million antipsychotic items were prescribed to an estimated 661,000 identified patients, at a cost of £44m. 

• 3.3 million hypnotics and anxiolytic items were prescribed to an estimated 1 million patients, at a cost of £21m.