A large amount of medicines are wasted in Suffolk and north east Essex each year. We need your help to reduce this.
Managing medicines at home to treat a long-term condition can be challenging, even more so if you are managing this for someone else. By checking your stock and only ordering what you need, you can:
- Help the environment
- Help reduce medication waste
- Help reduce medicine shortages in the NHS
- Help other people keep safe
Stay Safe
- Always check your stocks before ordering and only order what you need. By avoiding stockpiling and keeping all your medicines current and in date, your home will be safer for children and pets.
- If you have any issues with your medicines, including experiencing side effects or being unable to take a medicine, talk to your GP practice or pharmacy. They will ensure you are getting the best out of your medicines and will help you to stay well.
Stay Well
- Managing your medicines is an important part of staying well with a long-term condition. If you order your medicines using the NHS App, you can follow your prescription through the process, knowing where it is at every stage so you can see when it’s ready to collect.
- If you are admitted to hospital, please take in a supply of any medicine you are currently taking, in the original labelled packaging. This helps your hospital team to see exactly what you are taking and avoids unnecessary wastage.
Stay Green
- When you dispose of medicines safely, by handing them in to your pharmacy, you are helping to make sure that waste medicines do not pollute our rivers and seas. Empty inhalers can also be returned to prevent any remaining greenhouse gases leaking into the atmosphere from landfill sites. Cardboard and paper packaging can be recycled at home.
- Only ordering what you need means that you are helping the environment because once medicines have left the pharmacy, they cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.
Thank you to everyone who is doing their bit to help reduce medicine waste in Suffolk and north east Essex.
