Green Bag Scheme Frequently Asked Questions
Do medicines have to be in their original packaging, or can I include my own medicine boxes in my Green Bag?
Ideally, medicines should be in their original packaging, including boxes which may detail prescription/dosing information. While nursing teams will make every effort to support people to continue to use other appropriate medications, the use of dossette boxes poses a particular safety issue as hospital staff would have to identify individual tablets/capsules. We will look to review our approach to this with clinical teams to see what might be possible in the future.
Where can I collect a Green Bag from?
You may be provided a Green Bag at a pre-operative assessment clinic, or you can collect one from your local community pharmacy.
Are Green Bags always sent home with patients?
Yes, if you bring your Green Bag into hospital with you, you should be sent home using the same bag – to keep all your medications together.
What should I do with unused medicines? Can inhalers be recycled at local pharmacies?
Please return any unused medicines you may have which are no longer fit for purpose to your local pharmacy. Returned medicines are collected by NHS Grampian and disposed of safely. This minimises any environmental impact they may have. While we cannot recycle inhalers at the moment, disposing of them safely via your local pharmacy will prevent issues at waste plants as these can explode. Preventing medicines from entering our general waste or water waste streams is also really important when it comes to protecting the environment.
What can be done to prevent the automatic reordering of all prescriptions on repeat, even if they’re not all being used?
We are working with community pharmacies to ensure they check with patients if all medication is required before dispensing. We would be interested to hear more about any instances when this is not the case – please email gram.nhsgrampianfeedback@nhs.scot with more details and we can investigate further.
Do you have to use one of the plastic Green Bags? These don’t seem very environmentally friendly?
The Green Bags offered as part of the scheme are reusable and durable so we hope the environmental impact of these will be minimal. They are distinctive and can be easily labelled which can make life easier for staff and patients and families, so everyone knows what to look out for.
However, you may also put all your medicines into your own toiletry bag, if you prefer.