NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has held a unique public interactive event as part of Glasgow’s Climate Week.
The event, exploring medicines waste, deprescribing and medicines reviews, was held over Microsoft Teams last week. It featured a range of presentations, polls, quizzes and question-and-answer sessions, led by Jude Marshall, Deputy Medical Director for Primary Care at NHSGGC and a practising GP, Keira McLuskey, Head of Sustainability, and Anne Thomson, Lead Pharmacist for Clinical Services.
Themes covered included the environmental and financial cost of medicines waste, returning and disposing of medicines and help with medicines reviews, at the end of the evening the audience took part in a busy question-and-answer session.
Anne Thomson was the driving force behind the event, and she came up with the idea after a series of public engagement exercises over the past year. She said: “Our public engagement to date has attracted high levels of response indicating interest in this topic.
“However, previous sessions did indicate some common misunderstandings around medicines supply, waste and medicines reviews which we thought could be addressed effectively through an interactive session and Q&A format.
“I’ve been interested in group approaches to providing education, and this subject seemed the perfect way to test the idea. The fact we could hold it during Glasgow’s Climate Week was particularly timely.”
During the event, participants heard that medicines waste is a significant issue for all NHS boards and, across Scotland, medicines account for 25% of the health service’s carbon footprint.
Every day in Scotland we burn the equivalent weight of a small car in unused medicines, and in NHSGGC alone the cost of medicines waste is more than £100,000 – every single day.
Participants were able to explore some common misconceptions, such as why medicine can’t be reused once it’s been taken out of a pharmacy – even if the packet or bottle isn’t opened.
They heard about the importance of medicines reviews, and why it’s always worth staying in control of the medicines you take.
Afterwards the event, Anne Thomson said: “We were aware that an event like this was a new approach for NHSGGC, and we were pleased to have been able to share so much information on the issues around medicines waste. I would like to thank all those who took part – both presenters and audience – for such a positive evening.
“We intend to seek feedback from attendees and use this to consider how we might use this approach again in future.”
To watch a recording of the event, click here.
To find out more about medicines waste, go to: Medicines Waste – NHSGGC
To find out more about Glasgow’s Climate Week, go to: Glasgow’s Climate Week – Glasgow City Council