People who want to return out-of-date medicine to pharmacies are being urged to follow new guidelines.

Community pharmacies are continuing to accept waste medicines for disposal to avoid the risk of accidents, misuse or overdose by patients or members of their household.

Health bosses say it remains an important service during the current very busy time for pharmacies, but must be conducted safely.

Anyone planning to return medicines from a household where there has been a suspected or confirmed case of coronavirus should store the items securely in a safe area at home in sealed bags, for seven days.

precaution

This precaution is in place as it is known the virus can lie on surfaces for a number of days.

After a week the items can be returned to a pharmacy in sealed bags.

Regular collections are being made from pharmacies but as some have limited storage areas, so the Department of Health and Social Care is asking people to contact the pharmacy before returning large quantities of medicines of any type.

Needles and controlled drugs must be separated from other medicines before being handed in, or the pharmacy will not be able to accept them.

Needles can be accepted only in an appropriate container, patients are being warned.

Doctors say medicines should never be placed in the normal household waste or in the drain system.

Health Minister David Ashford said: ’Pharmacy staff have been working exceptionally hard through this difficult period and have adapted to cope in many ways, including working different shifts and undertaking deliveries out of hours to ensure all patients receive the medicines they need - they are a vital service to this community so please do what you can to keep them safe.’