Pharmacists call for action on medicines waste

The NHS issues roughly 16 million prescriptions to people in Surrey each year

An increasing volume of unused medicines are being returned by patients at a significant cost to the NHS, Surrey pharmacists have warned.

Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it spent about £176m on medicines every year, issuing 16 million prescriptions, but that roughly 1.2 million units were returned unused at a cost of £12m.

Sharn Dev, community pharmacy PCN lead in Surrey, said: "This not only highlights the financial impact on the NHS, but also the environmental consequences of disposing of large quantities of unused medicines."

The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.

When medicines are taken back to a pharmacy, staff have to remove the patient's details from the box and safely dispose of the contents.

Many unused medicines then end up in landfill or waterways, harming wildlife, the ICB said.

Akash Patel, who runs the Trio Pharmacy in Shepperton, said: "We are using staff time to remove labels and remove the medicines. It's a free service which we're are not getting paid for.

"There's been an increase and this is all at a cost to the pharmacy. People need to have more responsibility."

He suggested people would be more careful about how much they ordered if they were charged for returning it.

Meanwhile, Mr Dev said the "scale of waste" had grown so large that his pharmacy now needed a weekly collection to empty its medicines waste bin.

He said that on one occasion, the returned items included high value medicines such as inhalers and insulin pens, and the estimated cost exceeded £5,000.

Linda Honey, director of pharmacy for Surrey Heartlands, said: "This is a clear reminder that every prescription matters.

"When people only order what they truly need, it not only saves money but also helps ensure medicines are available for everyone who depends on them."