NHS managers have accused patients of wasting enough medicines to fund 240 heart bypass operations, 360 hip replacements or 2,600 cataract operations in Oxfordshire alone.

According to the county's Primary Care Trust, it could save more than £2m a year if people used prescription drugs properly.

Now PCT staff have launched a campaign encouraging patients to take an active role in reducing medicine waste.

PCT head of medicines management Julie Dandridge said: "It's vital that patients receive the medicines they need.

"But we know some patients still automatically tick each item on their repeat prescription slip, even if they do not actually take all their medicines.

"I think that sometimes they are worried that if they do not get it each month then the item will be taken off their repeat list when this is not the case - so they end up stockpiling drugs that just get wasted."

GPs and High Street chemists are joining the campaign, which will encourage patients to regularly review the drugs they are taking and dissuade them from ordering extra medicines for a rainy day.

Pharmacist Ian Dunphy, from the 10 O'Clock Pharmacy, in Woodstock Road, Oxford, said: "Once prescribed, medicines cannot be reused, even if they are taken back to the pharmacy unopened.

"They have to be destroyed, so the best way to save waste and cut out potentially dangerous medicines hanging around someone's home is not to obtain surplus supplies in the first place. Local pharmacists are always happy to discuss any aspect of a person's medication - just come along."

The medicine waste campaign follows an unsuccessful rule introduced by the PCT banning GPs from prescribing more than 28 days' supply of drugs to people with chronic illnesses, like asthma.

Although managers said the ruling would help reduce medicine wastage - and was not introduced to save money - doctors and patients claimed it would lead to an increase in prescription charges.

One prescription costs £6.55, whether it is for a month or six month's supply of drugs, and people would have been forced to pay more if their supplies were cut to 28 days' supply.

The policy was axed in June, because it was not producing any "financial benefit" for the PCT.

Advice from the campaign includes:

  • Unwanted medicines returned to pharmacies cannot be reused and have to be destroyed
  • If you stop or reduce your dose of any medicines, discuss it with your GP or local pharmacist
  • The most expensive medicine is the one you don't take - if you don't need it, don't order it
  • Think before you order medication: don't stockpile
  • Tell your GP or pharmacist if there is anything you are no longer taking
  • Don't be tempted to order extra medicines as a stand-by as medicines go out of date, or your medicine may be changed to another
  • Get medicines reviewed by your GP, pharmacist or nurse to ensure they work for you, you are taking them regularly and you are not suffering any side effects.