{"id":731740,"date":"2026-08-08T18:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/731740\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:30:11","slug":"wasted-medicines-in-england-cost-nhs-480-million-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/731740\/","title":{"rendered":"Wasted medicines in England cost NHS \u00a3480 million a year"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year’s worth of wasted medicines thrown away in England could fill 75 swimming pools, pharmacies have said. <\/p>\n

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has estimated that 3,400 tonnes of partially used medicines were binned in England from 2024 to 2025. <\/p>\n

The NPA, which analyses data from local health bodies, estimates that wasted medicine costs the NHS at least \u00a3480 million a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWasted medicines cost the NHS significant sums of money every year that could be invested in better services for patients,\u201d said Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than this, wasting medicines can have environmental and health consequences and we can do much more to tackle this growing problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as a medicine leaves a pharmacy, even if it is not used and is unopened, it must be disposed of so it is important patients only get medicines they are sure they will use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe for free to our weekly newsletter<\/a> for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n

The NPA represents some 6,000 independent community pharmacies in the UK, and is calling for patients with several repeat prescriptions to have more reviews so medicines that are no longer needed can be identified. <\/p>\n

It also urged the public not to “over order” medicine and only have a repeat prescription when needed. <\/p>\n

Commenting, Dr Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy, senior lecturer in postgraduate medicine at the University of Hertfordshire, said: \u201cMedicines waste isn\u2019t only a financial and environmental problem \u2013 it\u2019s a patient safety and resistance problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeftover antibiotics kept at home are often taken later without medical advice, which fuels antimicrobial resistance, one of the biggest threats to modern medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegular medication reviews and only ordering what is needed protects patients, the NHS and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

An NHS England spokesperson said: \u201cThe NHS has taken action to ensure people can better manage their prescriptions on their mobile phones through the NHS app including repeat prescriptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there is more to do which is why several local NHS services are running campaigns to reduce medicines waste, alongside wider efforts to optimise medicines use that have also seen the total number of dependency forming medications prescribed fall over the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know\u2026<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A year’s worth of wasted medicines thrown away in England could fill 75 swimming pools, pharmacies have said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[102,6591,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-731740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}