NHS organisations in the North-East have launched a project to help reduce the millions of pounds wasted on unwanted medicine.

Patients will be asked to think carefully how they use their medicines and try to prevent waste, which is costing taxpayers a fortune every year.

The initiative follows a report by the York Health Economics Consortium and the London School of Pharmacy that showed £300m is wasted in the UK every year on unused or wrongly prescribed medicines.

With more than £15m estimated to be wasted in the North-East, more than 100 local GPs, pharmacists, healthcare professionals and patient groups are coming together to look at improving the way medicines are managed.

The project is focusing on people over 60 who suffer from common long-term conditions such as diabetes, asthma and hypertension.

Project leader Janette Stephenson said: “We believe this is a group of patients that will benefit significantly from improvements in medicines management.”

The project will address issues such as repeat prescribing, where it is easy to order what is on the prescription, rather than what is needed each month.

Interviews, surveys and discussion groups will take place across the region, at which patients can discuss their experiences, share their views and help the project team understand how waste happens.

GPs, community pharmacists, district nurses, hospital consultants and other health workers will also talk about their roles and what changes they would like made to encourage patients to make the most of their medication and avoid waste.

Health workers gave the following advice to the public to help cut waste: 􀁥 Let your GP or pharmacist know if you have stopped taking any of your medicines; 􀁥 Check what medicines you still have at home before reordering; 􀁥 Order only what you need for that prescribing period; 􀁥 Discuss your medication with your GP or pharmacist regularly or if you have any concerns.

To provide input into the project, visit northeast.nhs.

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