Managing your medications
Get access to the medication you need and help us protect local services
East Renfrewshire needs to urgently reduce medicine costs and waste to protect frontline services.
The Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) pays for every prescription written in East Renfrewshire, and the cost keeps rising - currently £3million over budget for 2024/2025.
The latest figures show that around 10% of medicines are thrown away, either because they're not needed or haven't been taken.
NHSGGC found in a recent study that more than one-third of people (34%) said they always, often or sometimes kept a greater supply of medicines than they needed at home, while 41% also said they always, often or sometimes ordered a resupply before the due date.
We need your help to do this by reviewing your medications - particularly if you have a repeat prescription. By doing this you're making a big difference to your health and community.
- Check what medicines you have at home before you order your repeat prescriptions. If you have enough, only request the medicines you need this time. You will still be able to order others again in future
- If you or a family member have stopped taking a medicine which is still being Prescribed, get in touch with your GP and cancel it as soon as possible
- In East Renfrewshire we are spending six figures on prescriptions for over the counter medicines. Paracetamol, ibuprofen, antihistamines and many other over the counter medicines cost as little as 30p, but the costs to the HSCP for prescribing these medicines is much higher
- Speak to your pharmacy team if you have any questions about how to change your prescription request
- Unused medicines expire and might not work as intended, meaning your care might be compromised
- Generic medicines are up to 80% CHEAPER than the branded option and do exactly the same job. If your medicine brand has changed, don't worry. It's just as safe and has been tested to ensure it will have exactly the same effect as your previous medicine, but a generic (non-branded) version will save us money
- Stockpiling medicines worsens drug shortages
- Stockpiles of medicines kept at home can be dangerous for children and pets
- Medicines are only prescribed for you and for safety's sake should not be shared with anyone else
- If you have medicines at home that are out of date or no longer required, return them to your local pharmacy for safe disposal
