Medicines and prescriptions

Your medicines play an important part in helping you stay well, manage health conditions, and treat illness safely.  When you need to take medication your GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional will work with you to make sure that you get the right medicine for you, at the right dose, at the right time.

This is approach is called medicines optimisation. It aims to:

• make sure you understand what your medicines are for, how they might affect you and how to take them safely,
• avoid you taking unnecessary medicines or those that might do your more harm than good, 
• stop the prescribing of unnecessary or unwanted medication to reduce medicines waste.

This will help you to feel confident using your medicines and understand how they support your health.

Pharmacy services and medicines support

To get the most benefit from your medication, you should take it in exactly the way that it has been prescribed.

Speak to your local pharmacist if you need advice on any aspect of your medication. They are qualified medicines experts who can provide clear, practical advice without the need for an appointment. They can explain:

• how and when to take your medicine
• what to do if you miss a dose
• possible side effects and how to manage them
• how your medicines work together safely.

Community pharmacies provide a wide range of services to support your health and help you use medicines safely.

These services may include:

• the New Medicine Service (NMS), which supports you when starting a new medicine
• blood pressure checks
• inhaler technique reviews
• emergency medicine supply in certain circumstances
• advice on managing long-term health conditions

Reducing wasted medicines

The NHS pays for every medicine it dispenses. If medicine is unused this is wasted money that could have been spent on NHS treatment for another patient. Nationally, an estimated £300 million worth of medicines paid for by the NHS are wasted every year.  

Everyone has a part to play in reducing medicines waste, including patients. Here are some things you can do:

Only order what you need

Check what medicines you already have at home before ordering more.

Look in the bag

For safety reasons, medicines cannot be reused once they have left the pharmacy. It is important to check your medicines before leaving. Open the bag and make sure you are only taking home the medicines you need.

Cut excess

Speak to your pharmacist if you are receiving medicines you don’t use.

Talk to your pharmacist or GP about cutting or coming off medication

If you have stopped taking a medicine, or are not taking it as prescribed, speak to your GP or pharmacist. They are there to support you and may review your prescription, adjust your dose, and can help you to make an informed choice about your medication, including talking about other options.

Always return unused medicines to a pharmacy for safe disposal. Do not put them in household waste or flush them down the toilet.

Over the counter medicines

In line with NHS rules, your GP, nurse or pharmacist will not generally give you a prescription for certain medicines that are available to buy in a pharmacy or supermarket, even if you qualify for free prescriptions.

You cannot usually get the following medicines on prescription

• Common conditions – sore throat, coughs, colds, hay fever, mild acne, diarrhoea (adults), indigestion, headaches, minor pain, period pain
• Skin conditions – dandruff, dry skin, nappy rash, athlete’s foot, insect bites, sunburn
• Children’s conditions – teething, colic, head lice
• General health concerns – travel sickness, haemorrhoids, oral thrush, warts, verrucae
• Vitamins, minerals and probiotics – these are available through a healthy, balanced diet

The team of health professionals at your local pharmacy can offer help and clinical advice to manage minor health concerns and if your symptoms suggest it’s more serious, they’ll help you get the care you need.

Exceptions to restrictions on prescriptions for over-the-counter medication

You may still get an NHS prescription for an over-the-counter medicine for a minor health condition if:

• you have a long-term condition (e.g. arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease).
• the minor illness is complex or severe (e.g. migraines that don’t respond to OTC treatment).
• the medicine is required to manage side effects of a prescribed treatment (e.g. laxatives for opioid painkillers).
• The medicine has a licence which doesn’t allow it to be sold over the counter to certain groups of patients (e.g. babies, children or women who are pregnant or breast-feeding).
• the prescribing clinician feels the patient cannot self-care due to vulnerability.

Reporting medication side effects and issues

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) watches over medicines, medical devices and healthcare products to make sure they are safe and effective. It acts quickly to protect the public if there is a problem.

If you experience a side effect from a medicine or if a medical device isn’t working as it should, you can report it through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. Anyone can report side effects or problems, including healthcare professionals or the public (including patients, parents and carers). It’s important to report concerns as soon as they happen.

This information helps improve safety for other patients and supports ongoing monitoring of medicines used across the NHS.

Medicines supply and availability

Occasionally, some medicines may be temporarily unavailable. This may happen due to manufacturing delays, shortages of ingredients, or increased demand.

If your medicine is unavailable:

• your pharmacist may offer a suitable alternative
• your GP may prescribe a different medicine that works in a similar way
• your healthcare professional will make sure your treatment continues safely

Do not stop taking your medicine without advice from a healthcare professional.

Your GP practice and pharmacist will work with you to ensure you continue to receive safe and appropriate care.