A new report released and produced as part of a wider adherence campaign, aims to throw the spotlight on the sheer scale of the waste caused by prescription non-adherence during National Medication Adherence Week.

The vast costs from non-adherence are felt across the entire healthcare system and impact patient well-being and patient lives.

Jeremy Hunt, recently quoted the costs of medicine wastage at a staggering annual £300 million, at least half of which is avoidable. Whilst the cost to the NHS of people not taking their medicines properly and not getting the full benefits to their health is estimated at more than £500 million a year. The consequences go far beyond what most patients envisage when they forget to take their pills; in the EU alone, nearly 200,000 deaths occur each year due to missed doses of medication.

Omnicell's research explored the complex reasons why people don't adhere to their medication. Of those that have not taken their medication as prescribed over;

  • Two thirds (65%) say that it's because 'they forgot'
  • A quarter (25%) claim that the side effects made them feel ill and
  • 20% say they did not feel ill and therefore did not think they needed the medication.

Alarmingly, the illnesses that British adults are most likely to say they have been prescribed medication for on the NHS are high blood pressure (21%), high cholesterol (16%), asthma (13%) and mental health conditions (12%). Those patients with a mental health condition are more likely to say that they stopped taking the medication because it had side-effects that make them feel un-well (35%) or because they did not feel ill and therefore did not think they needed the medication (20%).

In patients where prescribed medication is necessary, drugs play an essential role in the ongoing management of conditions. Medication non-adherence not only leads to substantial worsening of diseases and illnesses, in many instances it causes repeat visits to GP surgeries and hospitals. This is why treatment compliance needs to be front of mind for GPs when discussing overall health with their patients and pharmacists need to support patients with adherence strategies and techniques.

The new report goes on to explore how the healthcare community can support and educate patients on the importance of adhering to medication. GPs and pharmacists need to engage patients in a conversation and advise them of ways to help keep themselves on track in order to help tackle this nationwide health issue.

However, it's not just communication that can help improve adherence, currently, nearly one million patients already use Adherence Packs in the UK, which are designed to enable the pharmacist or care provider to deliver personalised patient medication packs. Whilst the use of these products has risen over the years, it is recognised that there are still a large number of patients who find managing their medication a challenge and that some pharmacists, GPs and care agencies are still not aware of the aides which are widely available to support and encourage medication adherence.