The NHS is urging the public to make it their new year’s resolution to check their medicine cabinets as shocking figures reveal that more than one billion prescription items are wasted each year, costing the NHS over £300 million annually.
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.
NHS Somerset is benchmarked as the highest in the country for reducing inappropriate over prescribing.
This winter, the NHS is urging people to:
• check what they already have at home
• only order what they truly need
• return unused medicines to a pharmacy for safe disposal
Somerset leading the fight against waste: Frome Medical Practice saves £278,968 and becomes national exemplar
A pioneering campaign in Somerset shows what a difference local action can make.
Frome Medical Practice’s “Show Me Your Meds” 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.
Medicines waste harms NHS budgets, patient safety and the environment
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.
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
NHS Somerset: “This is money we urgently need for patient care”
Shaun Green, Chief Pharmacist at NHS Somerset, said:
“Medicines waste is a serious problem that affects local people, the environment and our budgets. By ordering only what you need, checking prescriptions before leaving the pharmacy, and safely returning unused medicines, we can work together to reduce unnecessary costs and ensure NHS resources are focused on patient care.”
Proxy Access
Proxy access for medicines management is where a trusted person (a “proxy,” like a carer or care home staff) can securely log into a patient’s GP online account (like Patient Access or NHS App) to help manage a patient’s healthcare. This primarily focuses on ordering repeat prescriptions online, reducing phone calls, and improving safety through a digital audit trail. It provides individual login details for the proxy, (not sharing the patient’s), and requires patient consent, offering better security and efficiency than paper methods, especially for care homes.
Top tips to help reduce waste
- Order only what you need
- Check medicines before leaving the pharmacy
- Speak to your GP or pharmacist about anything you no longer take
- Return unused medicines to a pharmacy — never bin or flush them
