Only Order What You Need
To prevent medicine waste, we are encouraging people to ‘Only Order What You Need’.
The NHS spends an estimated £300m on unused medicines each year. We need your help to reduce this.
Medicines waste happens when too much medication is order that isn’t needed, medicine is stockpiled at home or prescriptions aren’t checked before leaving the pharmacy.
We want to remind people how important it is to check what medicines they have at home before placing their repeat prescription order. With the support of our people and communities, we can reduce medicine waste, prevent supply pressures, and ensure the right medication is available for those who need it most.
People are advised to:
- Plan ahead – Check their medicines before ordering repeat prescriptions
- Only order what they need – even if it’s on their repeat list
- Speak to their pharmacy team if they have questions or need support.
Unused or out-of-date medicines can be returned to any pharmacy for safe disposal.
Unused medicines expire and might not work as we want them to.
Keeping big stocks of medicines at home can make drug shortages worse.
Big stocks of medicines at home can be a danger to children and pets.
Medicines are only prescribed for you and to be safe, should not be shared.
The best way to manage waste medicines is to give them to your pharmacy. This helps stop medicines polluting our beautiful rivers and sea.
By only ordering what you need, you help the environment, because once medicines have left the pharmacy, they cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.