A new watchdog is to be set up in a bid to reduce the amount of medicine wasted within the NHS each year.

Health Minister Lord Howe stated that some £300 million is thrown away annually because drugs are being discarded by patients or not taken properly.

In a bid to save £20 billion by 2015, the government is to introduce new measures that will provide better information about illnesses and how they are treated.

"We want to look at how patients can make the most of the medicines they take ... it is about making sure that patients stay well and get the best outcomes from their medicines," commented Lord Howe.

National Voices spokesperson Robert Johnstone told Practice Business that providing more appropriate advice - perhaps via newly-designed pharma labels - should significantly help patients as well as saving the NHS money.

It was recently reported by the NHS Information Centre that the number of items dispensed with pharmaceutical labels as prescriptions has increased by 70 per cent in the last ten years.

Denny Bros Ltd, 11 Aug 2011