Your medication

Prescribing medicines is the most common treatment that the NHS provides for patients.

When you need to take medication your GPs, pharmacist or other healthcare professional looking after you will work with you to make sure that you get the right choice of medicine at the right time. This is called medicines optimisation.

The goal of medicines optimisation is to:

• Make sure that the medicines given to patients are used well and safely. 
• Encourage people to understand their medicines and be involved in their own care. 
• Avoid people taking unnecessary medicines or those that might be detrimental to them. 
• Improve people’s health outcomes and support people to stay as well and as independent as they can. 
• Reduce medicines waste.

Talk to your pharmacist or GP

We want you to get the best from your medicines.

Please speak to your local pharmacist if you need advice on any aspect of your medication.

To get the most benefit from your medication, you should take it in exactly the way that it has been prescribed.

If you stop taking your medication – or if you stop taking it in the way it was prescribed – please make an appointment to talk to a healthcare professional about this. They will help you to make an informed choice about your medication and may be able to prescribe an alternative. Tell them if you’ve stopped following their prescription – it’s much better that they know.

Wasted or unused medicine

The NHS pays for every medicine it dispenses. If medicine is unused or wasted this is wasted money that could have been spent on something else. Nationally, the NHS spends an estimated £300 million on unused medicines each year.

We need to make sure that every penny we spend goes on helping patients. Cutting medicines waste is a priority for Hertfordshire and West Essex integrated care system. However, we need everyone to play their part, and this includes patients.

How you can help stop medicines waste and get more from your local NHS

Over the counter medicines

The NHS currently spends around £136 million a year on prescriptions for over the counter (OTC) medicines such as paracetamol, which are readily available at a lower cost in pharmacies and supermarkets. Reducing these prescriptions allows the NHS to focus funding on essential services and treatments for conditions like cancer, diabetes, and mental health care.

Over-the-counter medications that aren’t usually provided on prescription

In line with NHS national policy, your GP will not generally give you a prescription for over-the-counter medicines (OTC) for minor health conditions that can be self-treated, even if you qualify for free prescriptions. This applies to:

• Common conditions – sore throat, coughs, colds, hay fever, mild acne, diarrhoea (adults), indigestion, headaches, minor pain, period pain
• Skin conditions – dandruff, dry skin, nappy rash, athlete’s foot, insect bites, sunburn
• Children’s conditions – teething, colic, head lice
• General health concerns – travel sickness, haemorrhoids, oral thrush, warts, verrucae
• Vitamins, minerals and probiotics – these are available through a healthy, balanced diet

You can buy these OTC medicines in local pharmacies and supermarkets.

Exceptional cases when over-the-counter medication may be prescribed for minor health conditions

In some cases, you may be prescribed an over-the-counter medicine for a minor health condition if:

• you have a long-term condition (e.g. arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease).
• the minor illness is complex or severe (e.g. migraines that don’t respond to OTC treatment).
• the medicine is required to manage side effects of a prescribed treatment (e.g. laxatives for opioid painkillers).
• the medicine cannot be bought OTC due to licensing restrictions (e.g. for young children or pregnancy).
• the prescribing clinician feels the patient cannot self-care due to vulnerability.

Reporting side effects

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) watches over medicines and healthcare products to make sure they are safe and effective. It acts quickly to protect the public if there is a problem.

The MHRA runs the Yellow Card scheme to collect and monitor information on suspected concerns. This might be a medicine side effect or a medical device not working as it should. Anyone can report side effects or problems, including healthcare professionals or the public (including patients, parents and carers). The scheme relies on people reporting concerns as soon as they happen. This information helps improve safety for future patients.

Medicines supply issues

Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) (update from 8^th August 2025)

There are supply issues of some brands of this medication. There are currently intermittent deliveries to wholesalers, but the volumes are insufficient to meet full demand. Therefore, out of stock periods continue between each delivery.

PERT is prescribed for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency such as in cystic fibrosis, pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis. There is no clinical alternative to PERT. Each preparation contains different amounts of pancreatic enzymes. You may have been advised how to adjust your dose according to your symptoms and if problems with digestion or weight loss occur.

What this means for patients:

You need to submit your requests for a repeat prescription of PERT two weeks in advance of need.

If your regular community pharmacy has no stock of the brand you require and is unable to source any for you then:

a) If an alternative brand is available, your community pharmacist will contact your GP for a new prescription of a similar product. This may have a different dose.

You can also contact the Creon® customer service line (see details below) for Creon® related queries and advice. The service will aim to provide information on the nearest pharmacies which have recently received supply (note – they cannot guarantee that specific pharmacies will have stock).

b) If alternative brand is not available your community pharmacist will contact your GP for Pangrol®, an unlicenced import clinically equivalent alternative to Creon®.

c) If supplies are unavailable, contact your hospital specialist team or GP (if your hospital specialist is unknown to you) for further advice and a one month supply.

b) If alternative brand is not available:

Contact your hospital specialist team or GP (if your hospital specialist is unknown to you) for further advice and a one month supply. Your hospital specialist team may issue a new prescription for an ‘unlicensed import’ (for dispensing by your community pharmacy or hospital outpatients)

You can also contact the Creon® customer service line (see details below) for Creon® related queries and advice on the dates that wholesalers in your area will be resupplied (note – they cannot guarantee that specific pharmacies will have stock).

Useful links:

Position Statement: Pert Shortage | Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Creon supply update – Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Guts UK – committed to fighting all digestive diseases

Information about the supply of Creon, Nutrizym and Pancrex – Pancreatic Cancer UK

Other useful information

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced information for patients about using medicines safely and effectively. It includes advice and guidance on talking to your health and care team to help you make decisions about your medication.

The NHS website also has helpful information:

Useful information about medicines

Your GP practice might invite you to discuss your medicines, and this is a great opportunity to raise any concerns you might have. This video explains how to prepare for a medication review, what to expect and how it might help you: