Fifers are being urged to help cut a £2 million annual bill for wasted medicines.
NHS Fife has asked locals to play their role in reducing drug waste by launching Love Your NHS Fife campaign.
Medical Director Dr Frances Elliot said: “We can all do our bit.
“We all love and value our NHS and we all have a responsibility ensure its resources are being used in the most efficient way possible.
“Medicines worth £2m are wasted each year in Fife – money that could be better spent improving the services we provide for patients.”
There are a host of unavoidable reasons why some medicines go to waste – a health condition improves and the medicine is no longer needed or a prescription is changed because the original medication is not working well enough.
However, people who have repeat prescriptions may sometimes find they have more than they need and this is where they can help reduce waste.
Dr Elliot added: “There are simple things people can do to help.
“People tend to get their prescriptions in bulk over Christmas, afraid that their pharmacy will be closed over the festive season.
“However, if they order too much of something they use relatively infrequently the chances of this going out of date and having to be disposed of increases.
“So we are asking people to request medicines only in quantities that they will use.
“There is no need to stockpile”.
People are also asked to check their medicines before they leave a pharmacy to ensure the bag they are handed contains the correct medicines and only those they need.
“Many people are under the misconception that returned or unwanted medicines can be reused, but returned medicines must be incinerated on the grounds of safety.
“Once medicines leave the pharmacy premises those medicine cannot be reused even if they are returned unopened,” she added.
“It is also important to consider whether every item on their prescription is the best use of NHS resources.
“A box of paracetamol on a prescription costs the NHS around 20 times more than it costs if bought over the counter.
“While prescriptions are free to patients, the medicines prescribed are not and the associated costs of these medicines have risen very significantly over recent years.”
