HEALTH chiefs have revealed that wasted prescriptions cost the the NHS in Bolton £1.5million a year.

To combat this, Bolton NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is launching a campaign to highlight the cost of prescription medicines that are not used by the patient.

At present, Bolton is spending more on prescribing, on average per patient, than almost any other area in England, the CCG said.

The campaign will aim to encourage those who get medicines on repeat prescription to "shout up" if they have too much — and to dispose of medicines correctly at a pharmacy.

In addition, people are being warned not to share prescription medicine.

Dr Stephen Liversedge, Clinical Director for Primary Care and Health Improvement at the CCG, said: "Unused prescription medicines cost the NHS in Bolton an incredible £1.5 million every year.

"We all know that these are difficult financial times for our NHS so it is vitally important that we work together to tackle this problem now.

"Bolton CCG is working with GPs and pharmacies to reduce waste — but Bolton people need to do their bit too. This can be as quick and easy as checking at home before ordering more of your regular medicines.

"This money should be used to improve our local health services — not wasted."

The campaign will continue over the coming months.

In 2013/14, 5,974,766 items were prescribed by Bolton practices at a cost of over £50 million.

In 2014/15, Bolton spent £51.6 million on prescribed medicines. This was 14 per cent of the CCG’s total expenditure for that year.

The number of prescriptions is increasing by about 3.7 per cent every year.

Bolton people can get involved online at letsmakeitbolton.co.uk or on social media @LMI_Bolton, looking out for #BetterBolton.