Wasted or unused medicine is a serious and growing problem within the NHS that you can help tackle.
Medicines that are requested on prescriptions but then not used are sometimes referred to as Medicines Waste. Nationally, for every £25 spent on prescription medication, £1 is wasted.
The NHS pays for every medicine it dispenses, there is no such thing as a free prescription, and if it is not needed by the patient the NHS also pays for the medicines to be disposed of.
By talking and listening to the local community, GPs, pharmacies and other healthcare professionals it’s clear how important it is that we tackle the issue of medicine waste, particularly at a time when locally and nationally the NHS system is facing major challenges to meet the demand for services within available resources.
Reducing medicines waste is important to us, but it is not something we can do alone.
We need your help to work together to stop medicines waste across the area, reduce the spend, and get more from your local NHS.
We want to raise awareness amongst the public and need to get residents in South East London to:
If your GP prescribes medication to treat a condition, it’s important to take it in exactly the way that it’s been prescribed to receive the most benefit.
If you stop taking your medication – or if you stop taking it in the way your doctor prescribed – please tell your doctor about this. They’ll help you to make an informed choice about your medication and may be able to prescribe an alternative.
Cold weather can make some health problems worse and even lead to serious complications, especially if you’re 65 or older, or if you have a long-term health condition.
NHS South East London has been awarded Consultant Connect’s 2025 Urgent Care Award, recognising the outstanding success of our urgent community response telephone line that has been introduced across all six south east London boroughs. This year alone, the service has supported over 3,000 calls with an impressive 95% first time connection rate. This achievement reflects the impact of adopting Consultant Connect as our single point of access […]
This meeting will be held in public via MS Teams. If members of the public would like to submit a question relating to the agenda, in advance, please do so by contacting greenwich.corporate@selondonics.nhs.uk – we will endeavour to provide an answer to all questions submitted in advance but please note that those submitted less than […]
Lewisham’s general practice teams came together on Friday 23rd January 2026 for the third Lewisham General Practice Excellence Awards. The event, held at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, was an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the incredible work of staff across the borough. It was an evening dedicated to acknowledging the achievements of colleagues in […]