PATIENTS are wasting £11m of healthcare money by claiming prescription drugs they don't need.

Most of the culprits are believed to be those who are exempt from paying for their drugs and those on repeat prescriptions.

It emerged that cash spent on wasted medicines in Hampshire could have paid for 1,000 heart operations or 14,000 cataract operations in the county.

Liberal Democrat MP and registered pharmacist Sandra Gidley discovered Southampton Primary Care Trust was losing £1m a year and Hampshire £10m after obtaining figures under a Freedom of Information request.

The figures were reached by calculating how many of the drugs that had been issued were then returned. Once issued prescription medication cannot be reused and has to be destroyed.

In the city alone the wasted £1m would be enough to pay for 200 hip replacements or 30 more community nurses.

She said: "Wasted medicines mean wasted money. These prescriptions can't be used again and if some of this money can be saved it can be reinvested in other areas of health care.

Unwanted drugs in the home may mean patients are not getting the benefit they could be from their medicines. There is also an environmental cost as these drugs have to be transported and then incinerated at high temperatures.

In the coming weeks Hampshire PCT will attempt to combat the wastage with a drug amnesty combined with a campaign to raise awareness.

Patients will be invited to bring in unused pills and out-of-date drugs while pharmacists across the county will be sent posters and leaflets to help people understand the cost of keeping spare doses or ordering incorrectly.

A Hants PCT spokesman said: "It is as simple as ticking a box sometimes. We want people to think twice about whether they need everything they are ordering and regularly review their medication with their GP."