‘Only Order What You Need’ - help save another five double-decker buses of medicines this winter
Last winter, residents in Cheshire and Merseyside supported us to successfully reduce medicines waste in our region, saving approximately 60 tonnes of prescription medicines – the weight of five double-decker buses.
We launched a campaign in November last year, asking patients to ‘only order what they need’ from their repeat prescriptions list, to help reduce stockpiling and waste of prescription medicines. As a result, a total of 641,000 prescription medicine items were saved during a five-month period from November 2024 to March this year, which would have otherwise cost the NHS around £5 million.
The campaign was viewed approximately 2 million times across the region - via online platforms, local radio, and on 200 local buses - and is being relaunched this November, with NHS leaders asking the public to ‘only order what you need’ to continue helping reduce medicines waste and stockpiling.
Susanne Lynch MBE, Chief Pharmacist at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
“Saving 60 tonnes of medication in a few short months is such a brilliant achievement by our local residents, and we are very grateful for their support.
“We know that a significant amount of prescription medicines are not used and returned to pharmacies for destruction. Simply making the choice to only order the medicines you need this time, rather than everything on your list, avoids wasting medicines and money for the NHS.
“Our NHS belongs to all of us, so playing our part in making the best use of our resources ultimately benefits everyone in our community. I’d like to say thank you to our patients for working together with us to help reduce medicines waste, and to encourage everyone to help us to do the same again this winter, by only ordering what you need.”
To find out how you can help the NHS to reduce medicines waste, visit the ‘Only Order What You Need’ campaign page on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside website: www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/medicines-waste
Content provided by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Published on Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:21:26 GMT
Modified on Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:59:26 GMT