How to stop medicines expiring on your pharmacy shelves

Every pharmacy knows the scene: a month-end stock count and a box of expired medicines that could have been sold if someone had noticed two months earlier. The loss is double: the medicine's cost is gone, and disposing of it properly costs money too.

The cause is usually not carelessness. The same item arrives in different batches, each with its own expiry date, and staff dispense from the box closest to hand rather than the one closest to expiry.

A good pharmacy system records each batch with its number and expiry date on receipt, then automatically dispenses from the batch nearest to expiry first. It alerts you a set time before expiry, two or three months, so you can promote the item or return it to the supplier if your agreement allows.

It helps when the system brings this together in one report: items expiring in the coming period with their quantities and value, so you see the risk in money, not boxes.

Finally, link it to reorder levels. Items that sit long on the shelf are ordered in smaller quantities, and fast movers are reordered before a patient asks and finds none. That way both expired and missing stock go down.