Medicines Waste
Awareness 2013
Thinking Ahead
Promotional Campaign
Patient Information
Medicine Waste UK (www.medicinewaste.com)
A website designed to help patients and healthcare professionals understand
the issues surrounding medicines waste. Includes a shop where healthcare
professionals can order materials to support a promotion
UKMi- Getting the right medicines A Patient information Leaflet explaining
medicines switches
Policy and Guidance
General Reviews
Department of Health (DoH)
Making Best Use of Medicines (2011). Report of a Department of Health
roundtable event hosted by The King’s Fund addressing the issues around
medicines wastage.
York Health Economics Consortium and The School Of Pharmacy,
London (2010)
Evaluation of the Scale, Causes, and costs of Waste Medicines: Final
Report. An in depth report on the problem on medicines wastage in primary
care.
QIPP Evidence
Medicines management assistants to reduce medicine wastage (2011) a
quality and productivity case study looking at reducing medicines wastage in
a secondary care setting
NICE guidance
Medicines Adherence: Involving patients in decisions about prescribed
medicines and supporting adherence (2009) Guideline which makes
recommendations for how healthcare professionals can help patients make
informed decisions about medicines.
Patient.co.uk Professional Reference
Prescribing Issues and Concordance (2009) Written for healthcare
professionals, this is a handy concise guide to the issues surrounding
medicines adherence.
NHS Highland- Don’t waste prescription medicines A Patient information
Leaflet encouraging less medicines wastage
British Medical Journal (BMJ- Athens password required)
BMJ 2010; 341: c6799. A report looking at the findings from the York Health
Economics Consortium and University of London study assessing the extent
of drug waste.
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJGP)
BJGP 2012 74(4) 581-588 Prescribing and partnership with patients. Paper
exploring some of the issues to be considered when preparing patients and
professionals for medicines partnership, with a view to reduce medicines
wastage
UKMi (2013)PresQIPP- Optimising Safe and Appropriate Medicines Use Decision aid
tool for medicines which highlights particular medicines in which inappropriate
prescribing may be occurring. Includes clinical and cost risk ratings.
Produced by H Johnson, Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre Newcastle Upon Tyne