A local campaign to reduce waste medicines has been shortlisted for a national award.
The campaign – Only Order What You Need – saw NHS Dorset collaborate with community pharmacies and general practice to raise awareness of medicines waste and asked people to check their orders when submitting their prescription requests.
Around 50,000 people in Dorset have repeat prescriptions for multiple medications every month and it is estimated that 1.6 million repeat prescription items are wasted unnecessarily in Dorset each year.
Following its launch in early 2024 the cost of repeat prescriptions in Dorset has reduced by around £450,000.
The success of the campaign has seen it shortlisted in the Medicines Pharmacy and Prescribing Initiative of the Year category of the 2024 Health Service Journal (HSJ) awards.
Head of Medicines Optimisation with NHS Dorset Peter Cope said “I wanted to say how proud we are of our teams and say a big thank you to all our partners who have helped make this campaign happen in Dorset.
“We have saved nearly half a million pounds in the county which is incredible and has led to the campaign being adopted elsewhere in England.
“I’d also like to thank local people who have helped avoid medicines waste, save money and improved our environment.”
The winners will be announced at a ceremony which takes place in London on 21 November.
Find out more at https://nhsdorset.nhs.uk/health/medicines/waste/.
