Hundreds of thousands of pounds are wasted in north Norfolk due to medicine wastage.

Said to be due to patients’ stockpiling medicines this could not be further from the truth.

Holt Medical Practice said unused medicines from its patients alone cost about £15,000 a month, or £180,000 a year. Nationally, more than £300m of the £13.8bn spent on prescribed medicines each year is wasted. The lost money could fund an extra 11,700 community nurses across the UK.

So, the Holt Medical Practice has issued an urgent plea to patients to only order what they need, and has called on people to let their doctor know if they stop taking their medication.  And made fools of themselves in the process!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/hundreds_of_thousands_of_pounds_wasted_in_north_norfolk_due_to_medicine_wastage_1_4054800

Where do the drugs come from?  Not from the supermarket or local corner shop, but from prescriptions issues by the GPs of Holt Medical Practice and others who fail in their duty to prescribe carefully and conscientiously.

That is a palpable breach of duty, and the root cause of medicines waste accumulation.