Background: The manual handling of medications is one of the most resource intensive work processes in many hospitals, prompting the introduction of a unit-dose dispensing system at a Swedish hospital. However, concerns exist regarding potential medication waste associated with this system.
Aim: To estimate the extent of medication dose waste over one month, to analyze the distribution of waste between prescription changes and missed or skipped administrations, and to identify which drugs are most associated with waste when using unit-dose dispensing in an inpatient setting.
Methods: This quantitative descriptive study analyzed all oral solid medication doses prescribed in two hospital wards over one month. For each medication order, the number of doses that would have been produced by the system was calculated, and doses that would have become unused were identified. These doses were classified as waste, and the underlying reasons (prescription changes vs. missed/skipped doses) were recorded.
Results: Approximately 2.7% and 4.2% of dispensed doses would have been wasted during one month in the two wards, respectively. Most wasted doses resulted from non-administration (missed/skipped doses) rather than prescription changes. Certain medications showed high relative waste (due to small quantities dispensed) or contributed the most to total waste in absolute terms (commonly used drugs like paracetamol).
Conclusion: The predicted level of medication waste was low in both wards, amounting to 2.7% in ward 30A and 4.2% in ward 50G. Waste was primarily driven by non-administration rather than prescription changes. In absolute terms, frequently used medications such as paracetamol were most strongly associated with waste, while low-volume drugs showed higher relative waste percentages. The anticipated waste level is therefore unlikely to outweigh the benefits of implementing unit-dose dispensing.
2026.