Evaluation of the Scale , Causes and Costs of Waste Medicines Final

Researchers from the York Health Economics Consortium were responsible for the quantitative aspects of the research whilst the School of Pharmacy led on the qualitative aspects, and research relating to care homes. However, the outputs reported in this document represent a collaborative effort on the part of the entire research team. Throughout this report references are made to the work of Primary Care Trusts in areas such as medicines management and further reducing medicines wastage. With the publication In July 2010 of Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS it is apparent that by 2013 responsibility for such tasks will in England have moved on to GP Commissioning Consortia and/or the NHS Commissioning Board. However, the authors believe that the data and findings offered here should remain relevant. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the many people involved in this research, including members of the steering group appointed by the Department of Health, participants in the public survey, pharmacists who assisted with the community audits, PCT based colleagues, individuals who gave time for personal interviews, focus group members and those care home staff who assisted in the analysis of medicines wastage in that setting. In addition, we would like to thank Paul Rhodes and Robin Hulme of QA Research who assisted in the development of the public survey. Further thanks go to individuals who advised the research team over the course of the study, including Professor Rob Horne of the School of Pharmacy and Martin Phillips, Chief Pharmacist at York Hospital.