England's wasted medicines can fill 75 swimming pools per year
What's the story
A recent estimate by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has revealed that the amount of wasted medicines in England is equivalent to filling 75 swimming pools every year. The NPA found that 3,400 tons of partially used medications were disposed of in England during the period from 2024-25. The organization also estimated this issue costs the National Health Service (NHS) at least £480 million annually.
Financial impact
Financial burden on NHS
Olivier Picard, the chair of the NPA, emphasized that wasted medicines impose a huge financial burden on the NHS.
He said these funds could be better utilized to improve patient services.
Picard also warned about the environmental and health implications of wasted medicines, stressing that more needs to be done to address this growing problem.
Proposed solutions
Recommendations to tackle the issue
The NPA, which represents 6,000 independent community pharmacies in the UK, has made some recommendations to tackle this issue.
They have suggested that patients with multiple repeat prescriptions should be reviewed more often. This would help identify medicines that are no longer needed.
The organization also urged the public not to "over order" medicines and only request them when really needed for repeat prescriptions.
Safety concerns
Antimicrobial resistance threat
Dr. Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy, a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, warned that leftover antibiotics can be taken without medical advice later on.
This fuels antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the biggest threats to modern medicine.
She stressed that regular medication reviews and only ordering what is needed can protect patients, the NHS, and the environment.
Ongoing campaigns
Efforts to reduce medicine waste
An NHS England spokesperson said they have taken steps to help people manage their prescriptions better through the NHS app. This includes repeat prescriptions.
The spokesperson also acknowledged that more needs to be done and revealed that several local NHS services are running campaigns to reduce medicine waste.
These efforts are part of broader attempts to optimize medicine use, which have seen a decline in the total number of dependency-forming medications prescribed over the past decade.