Pharmacy-led ward-based education reduces pharmaceutical waste and saves money

Abstract

Objectives: To measure the effectiveness of pharmacy-led ward-based education sessions for pharmaceutical waste. Methods: A pharmacy technician delivery pharmaceutical waste education in 2017. To measure the impact, results from pharmaceutical wastage audits from 2016 and 2018 were compared. Key findings: Pharmacy-led ward-based education reduces pharmaceutical waste and saves money. It was calculated that the cost of medication wastage was reduced by $1715.67 in the audit period, extrapolating to an annual saving of $44 607.45. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the importance of pharmacy technicians and provided evidence for an advanced scope pharmacy technician ward role to reduce pharmaceutical wastage.