Residents in Merseyside and Cheshire are being urged to help reduce medicines waste by only ordering the medicines they need.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside launched a campaign in November last year, asking patients to ‘only order what they need’ from their repeat prescriptions list, to help reduce stockpiling and waste of prescription medicines.
Last year’s campaign successfully reduced medicines waste in the region, saving approximately 60 tonnes of prescription medicines last winter – the weight of five double-decker buses.
A total of 641,000 prescription medicine items were saved during a five-month period from November 2024 to March this year, compared to forecasted numbers for dispensed medicine items, which would have otherwise cost the local NHS around £5 million.
The campaign is being relaunched this November to coincide with #MedSafetyWeek, with NHS leaders asking the public to ‘only order what you need’ to continue helping reduce medicines waste.
A report by the Department of Health estimates that unused medicines cost the NHS around £300 million annually.
To find out how you can help the NHS to reduce medicines waste, visit the ‘Only Order What You Need’ campaign page on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside website: www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/medicines-waste
To find out more about #MedSafetyWeek, visit the campaign website: www.who-umc.org/medsafetyweek