Disposing of medicines

All care settings should have a written policy for the safe disposal of surplus, unwanted or expired medicines.

When to dispose of medicines 

Disposal of waste is subject to legislation and regulated by the Environment Agency. You might need to dispose of medicines in the following situations:

A person’s treatment changes or stops

Safely dispose of remaining supplies with the person’s consent.

A person transfers to another care service

The person should take all their medicines with them, unless they agree to dispose of any they no longer need.

A person dies

Keep the person’s medicines until any investigations are completed, such as a coroner's inquest.

The medicine reaches its expiry date

Read the product information leaflet for guidance on expiry dates. Some medicines expire before their ‘use by’ date once the packaging is open. Others have a shortened expiry date if they're removed from controlled temperature storage.

Refused doses that have been prepared for administration

Your policy should include a detailed process for disposing of these safely. Ask your pharmacy for advice on how to manage this safely and in line with local guidance.

Risks of not disposing of medicines correctly

Care homes must dispose of unwanted medicines appropriately to protect people who use services from risk. For example:

• When a resident leaves, dispose of that medicine straight away. If you keep them, staff could administer them to the wrong person by mistake. Never administer medicine that was prescribed for another person.
• When a prescriber stops prescribing a medicine, dispose of any surplus immediately. Continuing to administer the medicine puts people at risk.
• Never administer a medicine beyond its expiry date. The product may have chemically changed, making it clinically ineffective or potentially harmful.
• Store medicines that need to be disposed of securely to prevent misuse or mishandling.

Process for disposing of medicines 

Record the process for disposing of medicines in your medicines policy. When medicines are waiting to be disposed of, store them securely and separate them from medicines in use. Control people’s access to them until they are collected or taken to the pharmacy.

Do not dispose of medicines on site through the sewage system.

NICE guidance SC1: Managing medicines in care homes, says, “Medicines for disposal should be stored securely in a tamper-proof container within a cupboard until they are collected or taken to the pharmacy.”

Care homes without nursing

You should dispose of medicines by returning them to the supplier. This would usually be a community pharmacy or dispensing doctor. The supplier should dispose of the medicines in line with current waste regulations.

Nursing homes

You must only return medicines to a licensed waste disposal company. This might include community pharmacies.

Homecare services 

When social care providers are responsible for disposing of any unwanted, damaged, out-of-date or part-used medicines, you must have clear and detailed processes in place. These should include:

• details of how the medicines will be disposed of
• what records must be kept
• how to obtain the necessary agreement.

Find out more about managing medicines in home care providers.

Controlled drugs

Find out more about controlled drugs in care homes.

Disposal of sharps

You must dispose of sharps safely.

Find out more about sharps in adult social care.

Keeping records

Keep records to ensure that medicines are handled properly during disposal. Your records could include information such as:

• the date of disposal or return to pharmacy
• name and strength of medicine
• quantity removed
• name of the person the medicines were prescribed or purchased for
• signature of the staff member arranging disposal
• signature of the person collecting the medicines for disposal.

Nursing homes should also keep records of transactions with registered waste disposal companies.

You should treat disposal records as part of a person’s care records. Care records must be retained according to the Records Management Code of Practice from NHS England.