ABOUT £1 million is wasted on unused medication in Warrington every year – and the amount if increasing every year.
The money could be used to pay for essential NHS services such as heart bypass operations, community nurses and knee replacements.
This is the message coming from local health professionals in a bid to cut back on waste.
Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group is launching a campaign to encourage patients to work with them to tackle the problem.
One of the main concerns is medicines on repeat prescriptions. Once medicines have been prescribed and dispensed they cannot be recycled and have to be thrown away – whether they’ve been used or not.
The aim of this campaign is to encourage people not to stockpile medicines and to only order what they need.
Dr Catherine Doyle, GP prescribing lead for Warrington said: “We do not want patients to stop taking medicines that their doctors have prescribed, but we would like them to check what they have in the cupboards and drawers before ordering repeat prescriptions.
“Taking a closer look at prescriptions will not only save money but will be better for patients as it will ensure they are getting the best possible treatment”.
In order to raise public awareness, posters and leaflets will be displayed in GP surgeries, pharmacies and other healthcare premises throughout Warrington.
Anyone with unwanted medicines can return them to their local pharmacy where they will be disposed of safely.
The money wasted in Warrington every year could pay for 200 more hip replacements, 205 more heart bypass operations, 1,300 more cataract operations, 30 more community nurses and 160 more knee replacements.
ABOUT £1 million is wasted on unused medication in Warrington every year - and the amount if increasing every year.
The £1m cost of wasted medicine
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
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As a retired pharmacist I can tell you that in my experience much of the waste is down to the surgeries, not the patients. When my father was alive he used to show me packets and packets of medicines that he had not requested but the surgery would add them to the prescription month after month and I have seen this scenario many times.
Years ago I worked in a country where repeat prescriptions were controlled by pharmacists and it was much more efficient as the patient could spell out exactly what they needed at the point of dispensing.