Unused medicines cost NI health system an estimated £18m a year

Unused medicines are costing Northern Ireland’s health system £18 million a year, the department of health has said.

They have revealed that every year in the region, the public disposes of an estimated 165 tonnes of unused medicines through community pharmacies.

The department said most of these medicines have been prescribed for patients.

They said it has been previously estimated that medicines wasted in Northern Ireland are valued at £18 million annually, as well as the £650,000 cost to safely dispose of these unused medicines.

All prescriptions dispensed in Northern Ireland are free of charge for everyone.

The department said it is pressing to reduce the amount of money spent unnecessarily on prescribed medicines across health and social care.

They said said Northern Ireland uses more of almost every type of medicine than in other parts of the UK and the number of prescriptions written for patients is rising each year.

To address this, the department said it is working closely with health service staff including GPs and Community Pharmacists to focus on how medicines and appliances are prescribed.

Patients are being urged to only order the medicines that they need and use and not to “stockpile” items.

Chief pharmaceutical officer Professor Cathy Harrison said that by reducing the amount of medicines being wasted each year, it will increase the available funding for other parts of the health service.

“Medicine waste occurs for many reasons but sometimes patients receive or order medicines they don’t actually need or use, or use only occasionally,” she said.

“Reducing this level of wastage is therefore something that we can all play our part in tackling. For instance, work has shown that around 30% of the medicines returned to community pharmacies have not even been opened. This means that patients are ordering and receiving medication that they don’t need and won’t use.”

Professor Harrison said the figures do not include all medicine waste.

“These figures do not include the medicines waste that is disposed of in our normal household waste or flushed down toilets, which should never happen because it goes into the water system and has an added impact on our environment,” she said.

“By reducing the amount of medicines being wasted each year, we can increase the available funding for other much needed health and care services and at the same time have a positive impact on our environment.”