MORE than £2.7m worth of unused medicines are returned unopened to Oxfordshire pharmacies each year.

But the problem could be costing the NHS four times as much – with about a further £8m worth of unfinished drugs languishing in people’s medicine cabinets, health bosses have claimed.

This money could have been used to pay for approximately 1,360 hip replacements, 1,160 heart by-pass operations, or 10,800 cataract operations.

The news came as NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, urged patients to complete their courses of medication, and to think twice before ordering more.

Julie Dandridge of NHS Oxfordshire, said: “It’s estimated that £2.7m of medicines are returned to pharmacies and surgeries in Oxfordshire each year. But the amount in people’s medicine cabinets could be up to four times that.

“Everyone involved in prescribing, dispensing or reviewing medicines needs to make sure that patients are involved in making decisions about their treatment and that more medicines are taken as recommended.”

Unopened medicines can be returned to pharmacies across the county.

But because of strict safety rules they cannot be reused and instead they are taken to incinerators and destroyed.

Ms Dandridge said: “In the same way you wouldn’t want a joint of meat you have returned to the supermarket to end up back on the shelves, we would not reuse unopened medicines.”

The appeal to stop wasting medication is part of a national drive to cut back on around £90m of wasted prescriptions across the country.

Among the most wasted drugs are inhalers for asthma sufferers and repeat prescriptions for things like painkillers.

Dr John Galuszka, a GP from the Victoria House Surgery, in Bicester, said: “There are a number of reasons why medicines are going to waste, including people no longer taking or using the drugs.

“If anyone has any unused medicines at home we’re encouraging them to take them back to the pharmacy for safe disposal and have a chat with the pharmacist about their medicines on how to use them more effectively.”

GPs and pharmacists across Oxfordshire have been urged to discuss prescriptions more carefully with patients to make sure they are getting the appropriate medication.

Ms Dandridge said: “Unwanted drugs in the home may mean that patients are not getting the benefit they could be from their medicines.

“It also represents a large amount of waste. We want patients on repeat prescriptions to think about what they are ordering and only ask for what they need.

“Any other medicines can be dispensed when needed at a later date.”