Northern Ireland has launched its first strategy for the sustainable use of medicines (September 16). 

The strategy is based around four aims that aim to allow equitable access to cost-effective medicines, involve patients in decisions about their medicines, reducing the environmental impact of medicines, and driving improvement through data, technology, research and innovation. 

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Northern Ireland’s health minister Mike Nesbitt said “further action is still needed” despite current savings into medicines. 

“My department already delivers significant efficiencies from the prescribing budget through the Medicines Optimisation Regional Efficiency (MORE) programme, which saves around £20 million each year. 

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“With annual medicines expenditure now reaching £875 million, it is vital that we all work together to make the best possible use of our medicines.” 

The strategy was developed after a public consultation. Northern Ireland’s chief pharmaceutical officer Cathy Harrison said it will “embed a culture of valuing medicines within health and social care and the wider population”. 

The launch comes as 45.4 million prescription medicines were dispensed in primary care in 2023/24, an 8.8% increase since 2017/18. 

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Some 99.3% of these were dispensed by community pharmacy. Meanwhile 25 million paper prescriptions were also dispensed at community pharmacies in 2023/24.

The strategy called for implementing electronic transmissions of prescriptions and a digital system for pharmacy services in primary care settings in Northern Ireland to “improve efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance communication”. 

Under some of its other strategy recommendations, it explains how raising awareness about preventative health can help patients make decisions about their medicines, such as from the Living Well campaigns delivered by community pharmacies to promote health advice “aligned with key public health priorities”. 

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It recommended promoting and expanding the Pharmacy First service so “more conditions can be treated cost effectively in community pharmacies” and it can “reduce pressure on other parts of the HSC”. 

This will enable larger numbers of people to access “convenient, reliable, and standardised services” in community pharmacies and make “full use of the knowledge and skills within the pharmacy workforce”. 

It added that to help reduce waste, it said to increase the awareness of schemes where community pharmacies accept expired and unused medicines. 

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It comes as the Department of Health (DH) in Northern Ireland issued a warning in August to the public not to “fall victim to criminals” selling fake weight loss medication following reports of patients being hospitalised. 

And in July, the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced an overall pass rate of 89.5% among candidates who sat the June registration assessment in Northern Ireland.