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NHS Sheffield asks patients to join in the War on Waste
28th March 2011
Sheffield's GPs, community pharmacies and clinicians at NHS Sheffield are launching a new drive to reduce medicine waste, ensuring more sustainable services in the city.
Wicker Pharmacy typical collection of waste returned prescriptions
Unused prescription medicines cost NHS Sheffield over £2 million every year which is the equivalent of 280 more heart by pass operations, 2,800 more cataract operations or 60 more community nurses.
The war on waste aims to encourage people to think carefully before requesting repeat prescriptions and to return unused drugs to their pharmacy, seeking advice to review their prescription usage.
Dr Richard Oliver, GP and Chair of the Clinical Executive at NHS Sheffield said:
“Tackling prescription waste will free up some much needed resources in Sheffield that can be spent on other areas that will benefit Sheffield patients and public.
“A growing demand for hospital services, a rising bill for individualised care packages for people who need health care at home and no foreseeable significant increase in NHS funding means that we’ve had to make some tough decisions over recent months to ensure health services in the city are sustainable well into the future.
“Prescribing is one area where some simple changes in relation to prescriptions can produce an immediate saving - chiefly by reduction of waste. With the help of local GPs we have identified some measures that we can put into place with the support of the medicines management team at NHS Sheffield.
“We are also calling on local people to help us by reducing the number of medicines that go to waste each year. Reducing the amount of waste on unnecessary prescriptions could save millions of pounds which could be invested elsewhere in the health care system in Sheffield.
"As a GP I see the difference that can be made - one patient returned unused and un-opened medicines which filled a black bin liner and were valued at £5,500. Unfortunately any returned medicines cannot be re-used and cases like this are not uncommon patients do frequently return bin liners with high value waste.”
NHS Sheffield are encouraging people to support the campaign and to help themselves by saving NHS money, which could contribute to better health care in the city by doing the following:
- Check what medicines you still have at home before re-ordering
- Discuss your medication with your pharmacist or GP on a regular basis
- Only tick the boxes on the repeat prescription that you really need
- If you don’t need the medicine now, don’t order it! You will always be able to make requests in the future
- If you need to go to hospital please take all your prescription medicines with you
Pledge to reduce your medicines waste as part of the War on Waste campaign at www.yhmsheffield.org.uk/mypledge/
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