Follow these tips when clearing out your medicine cabinet at home.

Gather all the medicines in your home and remove any that are no longer needed, for example:

• Half-full tubes of cream and nasal sprays

• Medicines that no one remembers who they belong to

• Medicines that no one remembers what they are used for

• Medicines that have passed their expiry date

Keep the remaining medicines in their original packaging, all in one place out of the sight and reach of children.

Return medicines you intend to discard to a pharmacy for disposal. Remove personally identifiable information from the packaging if you wish. There is no need to return the outer cardboard packaging; recycle it with paper waste.

Return these medicines to a pharmacy for disposal:

• Medicines that have passed their expiry date

• Unused medicines

• Medicines that are no longer needed

Do not discard the packaging of medicines you intend to keep. The packaging and package leaflet contain important information about how to use the medicine, its dosage and shelf life. Keeping medicines in their original packaging ensures that information about them remains available, which can reduce the risk of taking the wrong medicine by mistake. It also reduces the risk of incorrect use.

Do not cut blister packs into smaller sections, as they contain information about the medicine’s shelf life.

The risks of using old medicines

Using medicines that have passed their expiry date or have been stored incorrectly carries the risk that:

• The medicine may not work as intended

• The person taking it may experience new or unknown adverse reactions

Do not share medicines with others

Do not save medicines to share with others. The prescribing doctor carried out a thorough assessment to ensure that the medicine was suitable for the person concerned. A medicine that is suitable for one person may not be suitable for another. Medicines can reduce the effects of other medicines taken at the same time and, in the worst case, harm the person they are shared with.