Ask Your GP for a Medication Review

Unlike Scotland (where prescriptions are free), in England you usually have to pay for them unless eligible for free prescriptions (this should also entitle you to free dental care, eye care and wigs (for cancer treatment or alopecia).

You can buy nice medication tracker pads on recycled paper, sent in plastic-free packaging.

It’s estimated that around 8.4 million people in England are prescribed 5 or more medicines (and a fifth of hospital admissions for older people are due to adverse effects).

Safely removing people off unnecessary medicines could make people safer, reduce waste (and animal testing – all medicines are tested by law) and save an estimated £300 million that could be put to better use.

Once registered with a GP, ask for a medical review, as millions of pounds are wasted on people storing up medications they never use.

A good GP should offer a yearly review (if not, ask for one). This way you can safely adjust or remove or improve medications, to avoid NHS waste. Take unused medicines to your local pharmacy for recycling (never flush them down the loo).

You can download the free NHS app to order repeat prescriptions from a nominated pharmacy, book appointments, view your GP health record, register organ donation decisions, view your NHS number and use NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you.

Millions of pounds is wasted yearly on the NHS, from ordering unused medicines. Ask your GP each year for a medication review, to ensure ‘dinosaur doctors’ are not just doling out unnecessary medicines.

And always recycle unused medicines at the pharmacy, never throw them out or flush them down the loo.