Northern Ireland Executive
20 Sep 2023, 16:30 GMT+10
Every year in Northern Ireland, the public disposes of an estimated 165 tonnes of unused medicines through community pharmacies. Most of these medicines have been prescribed for patients.
It has been previously estimated that medicines wasted in Northern Ireland are valued at Pound 18 million annually. This is further compounded by Pound 650,000 cost to safely dispose of these unused medicines.
The Department of Health is disclosing these figures as it continues its drive to reduce the amount of money that is spent unnecessarily on prescribed medicines across health and social care.
In Northern Ireland, we use more of almost every type of medicine than in other parts of the UK and the number of prescriptions written for patients is rising each year.
The Department is working closely with health service staff including GPs and Community Pharmacists to focus on how medicines and appliances are prescribed.
For individual patients, this may mean some prescriptions for medicines could be stopped, changed or the amount reduced if it has been assessed that the medicine is either no longer needed, is ineffective, inappropriate or unsafe for that patient. These changes will only be made after an assessment of the patient by their healthcare professional, and where it is in their best interests to deprescribe.
Additionally, patients are being urged to only order the medicines that they need and use and not to 'stockpile'.
Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health, Professor Cathy Harrison said: "Medicines waste occurs for many reasons but sometimes patients receive or order medicines they don't actually need or use, or use only occasionally.
"Reducing this level of wastage is therefore something that we can all play our part in tackling. For instance, work has shown that around 30% of the medicines returned to community pharmacies have not even been opened. This means that patients are ordering and receiving medication that they don't need and won't use."
Professor Harrison added, "While I would stress that patients with unused medicines should return them to community pharmacies for safe disposal, this too has a cost as the returned medicines can't be reused and need to be destroyed.
"These figures do not include the medicines waste that is disposed of in our normal household waste or flushed down toilets, which should never happen because it goes into the water system and has an added impact on our environment.
"By reducing the amount of medicines being wasted each year, we can increase the available funding for other much needed health and care services and at the same time have a positive impact on our environment."
Get a daily dose of Dublin News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Dublin News.
More InformationLONDON, U.K.: Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their most significant semi-annual inflow since the first half...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Some 32 percent of global semiconductor production could face climate change-related copper supply disruptions...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday with all the major indices gaining ground. Markets in the UK, Europe and Canada...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Financial markets kicked off the week on a cautious note as President Donald Trump rolled out a fresh round...
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: At a two-day summit over the weekend, the BRICS bloc of emerging economies issued a joint declaration condemning...
LONDON, U.K.: This week, BP appointed Simon Henry, former Shell finance chief, to its board as a non-executive director effective September...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Irish Rail incurred over 26,000 euros in damages due to a series of graffiti incidents carried out by a 24-year-old...
SLUBICE, Poland: Poland reinstated border controls with Germany and Lithuania on July 7, following Germany's earlier reintroduction...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Taoiseach Micheál Martin has expressed cautious optimism that the European Union and the United States can strike...
ZAGREB, Croatia: A massive concert by popular Croatian singer Marko Perković, known by his stage name Thompson, has drawn widespread...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Despite extreme heat gripping much of mainland Europe, Irish holidaymakers are pressing ahead with their travel plans,...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...