Reducing Medicines Waste

Stay safe

• Avoid stockpiling by always checking your stocks before ordering and only order what you need. This will help to keep all of your medicines current and in date.
• If you are experiencing any side effects or are having difficulty taking your medication, book a medications review by contacting the surgery.

Stay well

• Managing your medicines is an important part of staying well with a long-term condition. If you order your medicines using the NHS App, you can follow your prescription through the process, knowing where it is at every stage so you can see when it’s ready to collect.
• If you are admitted to hospital, try to take your current medications with you. This helps your hospital team to see exactly what you are taking and avoids unnecessary wastage.

Stay green

• When you dispose of medicines safely, by handing them in to your pharmacy, you are helping to make sure that waste medicines do not pollute our rivers and seas.
• Empty inhalers can also be returned to prevent any remaining greenhouse gases leaking into the atmosphere from landfill sites. Cardboard and paper packaging can be recycled at home.
• Only ordering what you need means that you are helping the environment because once medicines have left the pharmacy, they cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.

What can you do to help?

Only order what you need

• Check what medicines you have at home before you order your repeat prescriptions. If you have enough, only request the medicines you need this time. You will still be able to order others again in future
• Speak to the pharmacy team by contacting the surgery if you have any questions about your prescriptions. We have a pharmacist and 2 Pharmacy Technicians who can help.

Let us know if your medicines are no longer right for you

• Let the pharmacy team or the surgery know if you’ve stopped taking any of your medicines or if they’re no longer right for you.
• Please attend your regular medication reviews, or request a medication review with your practice, to make sure medicines are optimised for you, and your team can improve your healthcare.
• Medicines are only prescribed for you and for safety’s sake should not be shared with anyone else.

Dispose of medicines safely

• Dispose of your medicines safely by returning them to your pharmacy to prevent medicines waste entering landfill and polluting rivers, seas and soil.
• Return all unwanted and used inhaler devices to your pharmacy for safe disposal, to prevent release of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.