Latest news with #SurreyHeartlandsICB
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Stockpiling medication costs Surrey NHS £12m a year
A Surrey pharmacist has urged people in the county to cut down on medicine waste, which costs the NHS locally about £12m annually, a care board Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it spends roughly £162m on issuing 16 million prescriptions each year but added that an estimated 1.2 million of those go unused and end up being thrown said the medicines cannot be reused or recycled and often end up in landfill or even polluting the Khatidja Kureeman asked people to check their supplies before ordering more to help cut down on waste. She said: "People don't always realise how much difference a quick check at home can make."When medicines are over-ordered or stockpiled they're often left unused and go out of date. That's a waste of NHS resources and a risk to the environment."Ms Kureeman said the ICB's new "order what you need" campaign is particularly aimed at people over 50 who are "more likely to have repeat prescriptions".She added that ordering prescription that are not needed can lead to shortages.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Hundreds of thousands in Surrey are in a post-covid NHS backlog
Hundreds of thousands of people in Surrey are stuck in an NHS backlog, facing long waits including for crucial operations and cancer treatments, according to local health efforts to address delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands are still waiting well beyond the national target of 18 a recent Surrey County Council meeting, NHS managers revealed while progress is being made, more than 200,000 people are still awaiting measures like harm reviews, waiting list checks, and the opening of Ashford Elective Centre are being implemented, but staff shortages and IT issues continue to affect waiting times. The results were given at the council's Adults and Health Select Committee meeting on 11 July, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Integrated Care Board, including Frimley Park and Wexham Park hospitals still has about 89,000 people waiting for treatment – and more than 4,000 of those have been waiting over a a slight improvement from previous years, only 55% of patients are being treated within the NHS national Surrey Heartlands ICB, which covers hospitals like Ashford & St Peter's, Royal Surrey and Epsom, is further waiting list peaked in 2023 but has since come down significantly. About 143,000 people are waiting for non-urgent but important elective care operations. NHS managers said the total waiting list across Surrey Heartlands' three hospitals has decreased from a peak of approximately 162,000 in September 2023, to about 143,000 by March 61,500 patients are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment, while over 2,000 people have been on waiting lists for over a figures far exceed pre-pandemic levels, where waits beyond a year were rare.
