{"id":112,"date":"2024-05-16T18:51:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/nhs-borders\/pharmacy-services\/pharmaceutical-waste\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:10:57","slug":"pharmaceutical-waste","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/pages\/pharmacy-services\/pharmaceutical-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmaceutical Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/Current-Schedule-for-Website-2.xlsx\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/Current-Schedule-for-Website-2.xlsx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pharmaceutical Waste Uplift Schedule<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Board currently operates a single service for the collection and uplift of patients\u2019 returned medicines (pharmaceutical waste) from Community Pharmacies.&nbsp; Pharmaceutical Waste is collected from Community Pharmacies either every three months or every two months (for Health Centre pharmacies only).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where an AD HOC uplift (an additional uplift out with the agreed schedule) is required for any reason, the Pharmacist (or their representative) must contact the Community Pharmacy Development Team via email (ggc.cpdevteam@nhs.scot) to make arrangements.&nbsp; Our Team will agree a collection date with the waste Contractors and inform the pharmacy of this date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pharmacy will be responsible for ensuring the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ALL patient returned medicines (pharmaceutical waste) is securely packed i.e. unit is sealed, identified and in a secure location;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NO cardboard, or paper is added to the bins (packaging that can be recycled);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NO out-of-date stock is added to the bins, unless it is out-of-date patient returned medication.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Please click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/media\/6996\/how-to-use-pharm-waste-bin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;a list of what should and should not be put into the pharmaceutical waste bins.&nbsp; Please print and display as a reference document for all pharmacy staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any questions regarding collection schedules, AD HOC requests, or any other pharmaceutical waste queries, should be directed to the CPDEV Team mailbox (ggc.cpdevteam@nhs.scot).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For CP Information &#8211; Guidance for advising on Sharps Bin Disposal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As per <a href=\"https:\/\/sway.cloud.microsoft\/B6QH9V9OLhAmSGnS?ref=Link\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sway.cloud.microsoft\/B6QH9V9OLhAmSGnS?ref=Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NHSGGC ADTC<\/a>, the Key Messages are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Many patients may need to use sharps, such as needles, syringes and fingertip lancing devices to treat and manage their condition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sharps should never be disposed of in domestic waste, recycling or in a container that is no longer needed e.g. a drinks can or bottle.  This is potentially hazardous to anyone who comes into contact with the waste, including refuse collectors and members of the public.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To minimise the risk of needle stick injuries, a sharps bin (e.g. SharpSafe\u00ae or Sharpsguard\u00ae) can be prescribed, which can be returned to the patient&#8217;s GP practice for safe disposal once full.  <strong>GP practices can accept sharps containers, independent of their source, however sharps containers (with the exception of Needle Exchange) should NOT be returned to Community Pharmacies<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A smaller and compact sharps bin called MySharps\u00ae pocket container can be prescribed for storing Insulin Pen needles.  It can be used when away from home and has capacity for 25 Insulin Pen needles &#8211; please note: lancets cannot be disposed of in this device.  Once full, it is then locked and can be disposed of in the household waste as the needles are secured.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Please note &#8211; needle clipping devices are no longer available.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The lid colour of the sharps bin denotes the type of sharps waste that is to be disposed of in the bin.  See table below:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"941\" height=\"782\" src=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2636\" style=\"width:565px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/image.png 941w, https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/image-300x249.png 300w, https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/image-768x638.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 941px) 100vw, 941px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We would ask all Board Community Pharmacies to continue to advise CPDT when faced with patients attempting to incorrectly return used&nbsp;sharps&nbsp;bins via our&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:ggc.cpdevteam@nhs.scot\">ggc.cpdevteam@nhs.scot<\/a>&nbsp;mailbox &#8211; providing some information on&nbsp;where the patient got the incorrect&nbsp;advice from&nbsp;i.e.&nbsp;which&nbsp;Hospital\/Ward\/Clinic. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will then contact the aforementioned service and advise them on the correct procedures for patient disposal of the bins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following your feedback, we have so far contacted the following areas to re-iterate the correct disposal information to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>GP Practice Managers Forum<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obstetrics Department at GRI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Midwifery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HSCP Health Visitors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We would like to thank you once again for your continued co-operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Responsible Person: Bridie McCallum<br>Last Updated: 02\/06\/26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"nhsuk-card__description\">Pharmaceutical Waste Uplift Schedule The Board currently operates a single service for the collection and uplift of patients\u2019 returned medicines [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":69,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-112","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/112\/revisions\/2642"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communitypharmacy.scot.nhs.uk\/nhs-ggc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}