Newly diagnosed need help

[Steverpayne]

Hi, can any of you lovely people tell me how I get a sharps bin please and how do i get them to come and collect once full.
Tia

 

[grovesy]

Hi, can any of you lovely people tell me how I get a sharps bin please and how do i get them to come and collect once full.
Tia

If you are on Insulin then your prescriber should give you one. The disposal unfortunately is another of those postcode lotteries, that vary from area to area.

 

[Inka]

Hi, can any of you lovely people tell me how I get a sharps bin please and how do i get them to come and collect once full.
Tia

Ask your GP - but bear in mind that some GPs won’t give you one (mine doesn’t) For collection, you need to speak to your local council and arrange a medical waste collection unless your GP offers collection (a few do).

 

[Steve_H]

I've never has a sharps bin in 30yrs. When I used syringes I had a cutter to cut off the needle this was then throw away when full and now just recap the needle with the new cover and put in general waste.

 

[Steverpayne]

Been Intouch with my doctors surgery and they have given me a number to ring so rung it and it's a answer phone so hopefully they will get back to me @Diabetic Frog thank you that would be great if they don't get back in touch with me that is.

 

[Nick Cliff]

@Steverpayne =- Hi. If this is in regard to disposing of lancets used for blood sugar tests, on my surgery's advice I collect these into a small plastic container, such as the tubs supplements etc come in, and then periodically dispose of them in the domestic waste - chuck 'em in the dustbin. If they are in a sealed container they pose no risk to anyone, apparently. I have been doing this for 11 years.
If this is to do with hypodermic needles, that's a different story to which I don't know the answer.
Good luck managing your T2!
Nick

 

[Kaylz]

What is it your needing a sharps bin for? If just lancets then you may not be entitled to a free sharps bin, if for insulin pen needles then you should be

It is very much a different process depending where you are, in my area in Scotland I take my full one to the chemist and swap it for an empty, other areas you have to leave it at your door to be collected etc
xx

 

[Kaylz]

I was given a sharps bin for my BS monitor needles. I'm now on insulin too. My doctor sent me to the chemist with my full bin and they pointed me in the direction of the council. Council have been excellent with me. Like you say it's where you live.

Sorry my question was directed to the OP but that's great that you were given a sharps bin for your lancets, unfortunately not everyone is as fortunate, it certainly is area specific but I prefer that it only has to be dropped at the chemist as wouldn't like to leave a sharps bin at the door with numerous small children in my block etc xx

 

[rebrascora]

I've never has a sharps bin in 30yrs. When I used syringes I had a cutter to cut off the needle this was then throw away when full and now just recap the needle with the new cover and put in general waste.

I am pretty sure this is not acceptable and if you contact your GP practice I am sure they will prescribe you a sharps bin for your needles and lancets. Just covering a used needle with a new cover does not make them safe to go in general waste as the cover can easily come off again in waste handling and become a hazard. I really would urge you to get a proper sharps bin.

@Nick Cliff As regards putting used lancets in a supplement tub, it was generally considered best to put them in an empty bleach bottle as this was unlikely to be tampered with and pretty robust with a childproof lid, but these days even that would be frowned upon by your local council and sharp safe boxes should be used. If you are not supplied with one because you are not prescribed lancets or needles then you can purchase one. Disposal varies depending upon your local area. Some GP surgeries will accept full ones and replace, some pharmacies will do the same and some places it is local council doorstep collection on request. You need to find out which system is available in your area.

 

[DaveB]

I have a sharps bin on my prescription so I can order one whenever I need one. My surgery also takes the full one back

 

[Kaylz]

They knock on your door, you wouldn't and shouldn't leave it unattended.

Some area's you HAVE to leave it out for collection as per council rules, I know of many that practice that method, I don't agree with it but them's the rules in certain areas hence why I stated in my reply I wouldn't like it if it were that way where I am xx

 

[grovesy]

They knock on your door, you wouldn't and shouldn't leave it unattended.

Mine is contracted out by Council to a company called Medisort, you for collection they give you a date and leave on the doorstep and don't knock.

 

[PeterV]

Hi, can any of you lovely people tell me how I get a sharps bin please and how do i get them to come and collect once full.
Tia

The local council should provide this service, at least they do in Surrey. Phone your local district council, environmental services I believe they should provide you with a container and regular collections. In my area D&C is on a particular day, ring the day before, eave it out and unlike Diabetic Frog my collector suggests leaving it outside he picks it up and leaves a new container, usually 07.00

 

[Steve_H]

I am pretty sure this is not acceptable and if you contact your GP practice I am sure they will prescribe you a sharps bin for your needles and lancets. Just covering a used needle with a new cover does not make them safe to go in general waste as the cover can easily come off again in waste handling and become a hazard. I really would urge you to get a proper sharps bin.

@Nick Cliff As regards putting used lancets in a supplement tub, it was generally considered best to put them in an empty bleach bottle as this was unlikely to be tampered with and pretty robust with a childproof lid, but these days even that would be frowned upon by your local council and sharp safe boxes should be used. If you are not supplied with one because you are not prescribed lancets or needles then you can purchase one. Disposal varies depending upon your local area. Some GP surgeries will accept full ones and replace, some pharmacies will do the same and some places it is local council doorstep collection on request. You need to find out which system is available in your area.

Been Type 1 for 30yrs, been prescribed lancets & syringes then to needles for pens. Had 2 different GPs surgeries and under consultant at hospital. Never has it been even suggested using a sharps bin by any of them. It would take some effect to remove the needle bit from the cap without screwing it back on a pen, all my rubbish is in bags and as it's just tipped into bin lorry without been touched should be safe.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

It would take some effect to remove the needle bit from the cap without screwing it back on a pen

BD make a Safe-Clip, https://www.amazon.co.uk/BD-SAFE-CLIP-NEEDLE-CLIPPER-1/dp/B007GX4US2

(I clip off the needle before I change to a new one, but it would also be easy enough to remove a needle after unscrewing it.)

The device then stores all the needles (up to a quoted limit of 1500, though I agree with some of the reviews that it starts working less well after a few hundred).

 

[John D M]

Whilst I know I should source a proper sharps container, my default has become depositing needles and lancets into a small fizzy drinks bottle and disposing of this within general rubbish making sure that the cap is tightly fitted.
The bottles seem pretty robust.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear that getting hold of a sharps bin is proving so tricky for members. I think part of the problem is that the arrangements can be slightly different depending on where you live, but ultimately it is the local council who has the legal responsibility to deal with sharps

We ran a poll on this a while back which shows the sorts of variation in different areas

Sharps Bins? Easy or impossible.

For members who create ‘sharps’ as part of their diabetes management, I am interested in how easy or difficult the local authority in your area makes it to gather and dispose of these properly. I recently did a straw poll on Twitter and 42% of respondents either had no system in their area, or...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

This from the NHS website may help, specifically it mentions not to do the old ’bleach bottle’ trick from the 90s.

Do not use other bins​

Do not put used needles or other sharps in:

• any type of household bin (for example, a general rubbish bin or a recycling bin)
• a container that's no longer needed, such as a drinks can or bottle

Request clinical waste collection

Arrange for a collection of clinical waste - for items like used syringes, drugs, pharmaceuticals and surgical waste

www.nhs.uk

 

[Steverpayne]

Cool, just let me know and I'll stick it in a jiffy bag for you.

@Diabetic Frog I've not been able to get intouch with my supposed to be provider and they havent got back to me how much do you want for the spare bin you have please?

 

[Becka]

When I was diagnosed I was given paper prescriptions for a sharps bin, as apparently they could not include that electronically. Back then I would take it to my local pharmacy when full, and ask the surgery for a new prescription.

But eventually they could be prescribed electronically, though I still had to ask for one. And the rules changed so the pharmacy were no longer allowed to collect them. Instead I now have to take them to the surgery to hand in to reception.

Last time I asked the surgery for one they said I may as well have two!? Although now I am managed by the diabetes clinic I have them on my repeat prescriptions list.

If you are prescribed a glucometer then you should be prescribed a sharps bin, so you should definitely ask the surgery. It is a matter of public safety as much as anything else, as you should not be putting them in general waste.

If you are paying for your own glucometer you can still ask the surgery, though they may refuse. And if you are in England, managing diabetes by diet alone, and do not have any other qualifying condition for an exemption card, then buying your own bin will be cheaper than the N.H.S. prescription charge.

But you can buy them online very easily from Amazon, eBay, medical supply sites etc. Just for lancets a 1L bin will last a long time.

 

[rebrascora]

Just for lancets a 1L bin will last a long time.

Probably a couple of lifetimes if you are like me and only change your lancet twice a year! 😱 🙄