Only order the items you need
- Check what medicines you have at home before re-ordering.
- If you don’t need the medicine this time please don’t order it. It will not disappear from your prescription.
Return any unwanted medicine to a pharmacy for safe disposal
- Unused medicines expire and might not work as you need them to.
Check your medicine bag before you leave the pharmacy and return any unwanted medication
- If you return any unwanted medication before you leave the pharmacy, the medicine can be reused and offered to a person who needs it.
Tell you GP practice if you no longer want or need a medication
- Letting your GP practice know if you no longer want or need a medication saves the NHS time and money as well as helping to protect our medicinal supply lines and environment.
Did you know?
- Medicines waste costs the NHS around £300 million per year? That's enough to fund 7.6 million GP appointments.
- When flushed down toilets or put into bins, medicines waste can pollute our waterways and get into our soil, causing harmful pollution to our environment.
- Inhalers, even after the medication has been used can leak harmful greenhouse gasses if not disposed of correctly.
- Unused or incorrectly stored medicine can be dangerous to pets and children.
- Over-ordering medicinal supplies contributes to medicines shortages.