Patients at Watford General Hospital are now being asked to stock up on painkillers before they are admitted for surgery – so they don’t need a prescription when the leave.

In the past, patients leaving the hospital after an operation would have been routinely issued with the painkillers they needed from the hospital pharmacy.

But many of those medicines – like paracetamol – are available to buy ‘over the counter’, without a prescription.

Health bosses at the Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group are encouraging a ‘purchase where possible’ policy for all medicines that don’t need a prescription.

And since July doctors at the Watford General have been asking patients whether they could buy the painkillers they will need at home in advance.

The approach is also being adopted at St Albans City Hospital, which is also run by the West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust.

The trust estimates that the move could save £1,500 a year - and says patients have been supportive.

“We have been asking patients to buy their own over-the-counter painkillers on discharge since July 2018 and patients are happy to do this as they see it as an opportunity to help the NHS save some money,” said the hospitals trust's chief pharmacist Martin Keble.

“We will always provide these over-the-counter drugs for our patients if they ask but by not prescribing them, we predict annual savings of around £1,500.”

The move is part of ongoing measures designed to cut the costs of medicines and prescribing by Herts Valleys CCG.

And in some cases, it is believed, patients treated at accident and emergency could be recommended to make ‘over the counter’ purchases too.

The CCG says paracetamol is cheap to buy and readily available. And it says the approach will speed up discharge times, with patients no longer having to wait “some considerable time” for medicines to be dispensed from the hospital pharmacy.

They also say it will encourage patients to take more control of their health and make sure NHS funds are not spend on medication which may not be needed.

But, they say, it will only apply to planned procedures, where there has been a discussion with a patient during their pre-operative appointment.

Meanwhile, the CCG is also asking the Trust – and the Royal Free Hospital – to switch patients onto cheaper versions of medicines, as part of a “robust biosimilar switching programme”.

And they are working with practices across the area to reduce the prescribing of ‘sip feed’.