Health bosses in north Kent have insisted access to mental health services will be more widely available to patients within a few years.

Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group says psychotherapy appointments have been rolled out more widely over the last year, as NHS figures reveal antidepressant prescriptions are on the rise.

The most recent figures from 2017-2018 show that prescriptions went up by 13 per cent over the last three years.

Although this is less than the national rise in prescriptions, the number of patients in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley has barely increased at 4.1 per cent growth.

This means the rise in prescriptions cannot be explained by an increase in the number of patients in the area.

After national statistics were revealed, GPs called on the government to increase funding for psychotherapy and bring down reliance of antidepressants.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said the rise could be down to more people opening up about mental health problems, so it was not necessarily a bad thing.

She added: "Antidepressants are of proven benefit for many patients, but no patient wants to be reliant on any medication long-term, and where possible we will explore alternatives, such as talking therapies. However, there is a severe lack of these services in the community."

Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley's CCG has said it is focusing on expanding these psychotherapy services.

A spokeswoman said: "Antidepressant medication is prescribed at a clinician’s discretion. However, the CCG works closely with local GPs to monitor their use and ensure that antidepressants are prescribed appropriately.

"During 2017-18, the CCG focused on continuing to increase access to the IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) programme and this service continues to see improvement in patient’s mental health as a result of talking therapies.

"We are committed to expanding IAPT further so that the programme can be made available to an increasing number of patients between now and 2020/21, in line with Government targets.

"The expansion of IAPT will mean that greater access to mental health services will be available to patients with physical health conditions and medically unexplained symptoms in primary care settings."