Health workers urged to cut medicine use to save £3m waste
GPs and nurses are being urged to discuss medication levels with patients in a bid to cut waste.
Unused and unopened medicine costs NHS Lothian at least 3 million a year.
A campaign has already been launched urging people not to overestimate how much medication they require. Even if left unopened, treatments cannot be returned and used by someone else.
Now health workers, including pharmacy workers, will be urged to do their bit to improve the situation.
NHS Lothian's director of pharmacy Pat Murray said: "The figure of about 3 million is a low estimate and we need to get the message out to patients about the importance of only ordering the medicines they actually need.
"However, we also want to get the message out to GPs, nursing and pharmacy staff to make sure they discuss medication with patients on a regular basis to ensure their medication requirements are up to date."
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