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You are in: Advice and Information > Cutting down waste medicines in North Yorkshire
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Advice and Information
Cutting down waste medicines in North Yorkshire
Our Waste Medicines Minimisation Campaign aims to reduce the millions of pounds wasted on unused medicines each year by asking people to check their prescriptions and make sure they are not ordering medication that they don’t need.
The Department of Health estimates that as much as 10 per cent of all drugs prescribed are wasted and it is estimated that waste medicines cost the taxpayer a staggering £800 million a year in the UK.
To put this into context, £800 million would buy:
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217,000 hip replacements
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126,000 heart bypass operations
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4 hospitals the size of the University College London Hospital
NHS North Yorkshire and York estimates that waste medicines can cost it between £2 million and £10 million a year.
Sue Dale
(pictured right), Principal Pharmacist for NHS North
Yorkshire and York, said: “Cutting the amount of
medicines that go to waste is a big priority for us. Not only could it
save millions of pounds which could be invested elsewhere, but patient
safety is also important and we need to make sure people are taking the
appropriate medication - which is in date and in the right quantities.
“We are asking people to discuss their medications with their pharmacist and GP – especially if they are not taking them as prescribed. Doctors make a diagnosis and prescribe medicines based on the condition of a patient assuming they have been taking their medication as prescribed, so people need to be honest about how they’ve been taking them.”
David
Gill (pictured left), Chair of the North Yorkshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC),
runs pharmacies in Tadcaster and York. He said: “We are getting behind
this campaign 100 per cent. Pharmacists see thousands of pounds worth of
medicines returned unused as waste every year.
“Many people think that if they return unopened medicines to a pharmacy they can be reused. Unfortunately this is not the case and they have to be destroyed – even if they are unopened.
“Some people order all their medicines each month
because they worry about running out. It’s not safe to stockpile
medicines and take them at a later date so we are also encouraging
people not to hoard them at home.”
Councillor Pat Marsh (pictured right), who works at Sainsbury’s Pharmacy in Harrogate, said: “I would ask people to think when they order their repeat prescriptions. Before they tick that box they need to ask themselves: ‘Do I really need this?’ “If not, don’t tick it!”
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Download the campaign poster | Adobe Acrobat - pdf - 537kb |
