Tackling Medicine Waste

Welcome to Medicine Waste.com, a dedicated new website designed to help you get the most from your medicines and help others by reducing unnecessary waste.

Sometimes patients receive medicines they don't actually use, or use only occasionally. This means that they can lose out on the intended health benefits of their prescription. And that can be a major headache in more ways than one...

Not only does it mean that that their symptoms can get much worse if left untreated - the latest Department for Health report suggests this can cost the NHS many, many millions in avoidable extra treatment costs - it also means that these medicines cannot be used again and need to be incinerated.

The reasons why patients don’t take all their medication can vary and audits have shown that around half of all the medication returned had not even been opened. This means that patients are ordering and receiving medication that they don’t even start to use.

It is estimated that as much as £300 million is wasted every year on unused or partially used medication. That's money which could be reinvested into more front line care and services for the benefit of all.