3 minute read
10 Ways to Reduce Medicine Waste
Why?
It’s a shocking statistic: medicine waste costs the NHS at least £300 million every year, of which £50 million is in care homes. What’s more, the waste can result in environmental pollution and contribute to antibiotic resistance.
Yet it doesn’t have to be this way.
By acting together, health care professionals, patients, care home staff and pharmacists can turn this around, saving vital funds to improve patient health. Below are ten top tips for things you can do to reduce waste, starting today.
How?
Patients:
- 1. Check your supplies and only order what you need on repeat prescription.
- 2. Check your medicines BEFORE you leave the pharmacy. Give back anything you don’t need. Once you’ve left the premises, medicines cannot be reused, even if unopened and in date. Pharmacists can encourage customers to do this.
- 3. Return ALL unwanted medicines to your pharmacy, including tablets, liquids, inhalers, creams, patches, devices etc. NEVER throw medicines down the sink or toilet – this results in pharmaceutical pollution of our waterways and may add to antibiotic resistance. Pharmacists can encourage customers to do this.
Prescribers:
- 4. Reinforce the messages above with patients, particularly when starting new medication and at every medication review.
- 5. Think about quantities when prescribing liquid medicines, especially antibiotics. (Example: amoxicillin liquid 5 day course of three times a day dose = 75 ml. 7 day course = 105ml requiring a second bottle to be dispensed, most of which will be wasted). Teach kids to swallow pills using the KidzMed resources available online, because waste tends to be less with solid oral dosage forms.
- 6. Consider appropriate deprescribing. Research undertaken last year by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde found patients are willing to have conversations about deprescribing, provided the process is collaborative and person centred. Read the full report here.
- 7. ‘Show me your medicines please.’ Look at the medicine supply in patients’ own homes to identify stockpiling and other issues. Become a member of Greener Practice NetworkPLUS from £20 a year to access Dr Deb Gompertz’s template “Show me your meds” project and many other step-by-step Quality Improvement Projects created by NHS practice staff, GPs and pharmacists, Half of the projects are about medicines optimisation and reducing unnecessary prescribing reflecting the high carbon footprint of prescribing in general practice.
- 8. ‘Show me your medicines waste please.’ If you work with care homes, talk to care home staff about medicines waste. Look at what is being wasted and work together with the care home and community pharmacy to work out why waste is occurring and what can be done to reduce it. Watch Greener Practice: Medicines Waste in Care Homes – Reducing Social and Environmental Impact – Recording Available – Greener Practice for inspiration from Nuala Hampson about how it has worked in practice.
Care home staff:
- 9. Watch the short video halfway down this page to learn more about the difference you can make.
All health care professionals:
- 10. Find out more about this vital issue and share your ideas. Attend the Susnet online event on Medicines Disposal and Reuse on 7th May. Join a Waste Watchers online session hosted by Cornwall Primary Care Climate Resilience Project – next meeting 12th May. View past Waste Watchers meetings here
Together, we can make a huge difference in reducing the waste!
With thanks to Nuala Hampson, The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.