Medicines waste impact in Somerset
Medicines waste harms NHS budgets, patient safety and the environment
Medicines waste harms NHS budgets, patient safety and the environment
The cost of GP prescribing spend nationally is £10.3 billion a year. NHS England’s National Overprescribing Report shows that around 10% of primary care prescriptions are unnecessary, leading to significant waste at a time when health services need every pound to support patient care.
In Somerset alone, pharmacies dispense 30,000 prescription items a day, costing more than £300,000 daily — but around 5% of these go unused or are thrown away, wasting £5 million every year in one county alone.
Incorrect disposal of unwanted medicines — particularly flushing them or throwing them in household waste — pollutes waterways, coastlines and ecosystems, while unnecessary production and transport adds to CO₂ emissions.
NHS Somerset is benchmarked as the highest in the country for reducing inappropriate over prescribing.
Recent medicine checks in Somerset uncovered extreme examples of stockpiling:
- A patient storing 119 bottles of liquid morphine
- Another household with 28,520 excess doses worth almost £3,000
- Eleven patients’ unused medicines producing as much CO₂ as a return flight from New York to London
Frome Medical Practice saves £278,968 through reducing medicines waste
Frome Medical Practice’s “Order what you need” campaign saved nearly £280,000 in just 12 months, reduced prescribing by 22,278 items, and prevented 122 tonnes of CO₂ emissions — equivalent to driving over 535,000 miles. The money saved can be redirected into frontline NHS Services.
The practice is also now second in England for “proxy access” via the NHS App, enabling carers to safely order repeat prescriptions on behalf of loved ones and dramatically cutting waste and errors.
Dr’s Neha Bhagi, a GP at Frome Medical Practice says;
“We think our focus on preventing harm, and avoiding over medicalisation and prescribing, has really helped us to be able to see what medication is being used and not used by our patients; helping us move to a much safer space”.
“It's also about empowering patients to take control, understand their medications better and for us to facilitate those discussions.
“We have four dedicated pharmacists working in our medicines management team. They’re having discussions on a regular basis with patients about their medications, carrying out reviews and proactively picking up on those medications that the patients might not be taking any more, or were ordering, more often than they should need.
The Practice has a digital team who can help patients set up proxy access via their NHS app or online GP account so they can order medications on behalf of a loved one.
How Proxy Access helps Sheila and Marion
Sheila Gore lives in Frome and attends Frome Medical Practice. Her mother, who moved to Frome when she was 90, is now 103 years old and still lives independently in Frome in supported housing for older people.
Sheila says “My mother has all her faculties in terms of her mental health, but her eye sight and hearing aren’t so good. Due to issues with her eyesight, she needs help with managing her medications.
“She goes through periods when sometimes she needs additional medications. It’s important for her to have right medications at the right time.
“When my mother needed help to manage her medication, I found out from Frome Medical Practice that I could use the NHS App to apply for what’s called Proxy Access. This meant I could help my mum manage her medications and order repeat prescriptions for her online and I was delighted.
“The digital team at the Practice helped me to set up access on my app. I can now flip between my own access as a patient and online access to my mum’s NHS account so I can order her prescriptions for her.
“I visit my mum regularly and always check on her medications. If she is running low, I just go onto the NHS app and order them for her. Then the community pharmacy in the same building as Frome Medical Practice, will fill the prescription and deliver it to my mum’s sheltered housing. It’s such a great service and brings me peace of mind knowing I can make sure my mum never runs out of the medication that she needs.
“And all I need to do is to check regularly whether my mum needs more medication. I normally order them a couple of weeks before she needs it then to make sure, they get there in time”
What is Proxy Access?
Proxy access is where a trusted person (a "proxy," like a carer or care home staff) can securely log onto a patient's GP online account (like Patient Access or the NHS App) to help manage a loved ones medications, when they might struggle to do this themselves.
If you would like to set this up and need help, do contact your GP who can show you how to do this.
