Greener Practice: Medicines Waste in Care Homes – Reducing Social and Environmental Impact

Speakers: Nuala Hampson

Nuala Hampson presents a summary of the project and its key outcomes.

An engaging webinar describing a fresh approach to reducing medicines waste in care homes with a focus on the social and environmental impact. Practical and innovative solutions including simple actions to improve communication and understanding process across the ‘hub’ (GP practice, community pharmacy & care home), which led to significant savings in £, carbon footprint and system efficiency. Supported by free resources including a free educational screencast to enable scale and spread.

Care homes dispose of £50 million worth of unused medicines every year, but the impact of medicines waste goes far beyond financial loss.

It found that per care home, medicines waste was responsible for:
👣 Carbon footprint: 3.2 tCO₂e – equivalent to driving 9,425 petrol-car miles or 335 GP appointments
💷 Financial loss: £2,125 to £9,404, equivalent to £125 per bed every year
👩‍⚕️ Staff time: 155 hours spent on disposal

The Medicines Waste in Care Homes Project, was led by CSH and funded through The Q Community by The Health Foundation and NHS England, used the SusQI approach to explore environmental and social costs of medicines waste – and to develop practical, innovative solutions.