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oh for fur jackets

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Hazel

Hazel

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Sharps Bins issues - again 😡

For those who don't follow Facebook. The outlet (which I will not name, to safeguard them and me), can no longer sell me sharps boxes. Appartantly, South Lanarkshire council found a sharps bin in a landfil site, and the number on it was traced back to the outlet above. The were severely told off. So unless I can prove that a medical outlet will dispose of them.

The problem is my surgery won't handle them, the diabetic clinic at the hospital won't touch them, the local council will not take them to dispose of, so tell me what am I supposed to do

Already on Facebook I have had several versions from all round the country, so there is not a unform policy on this issue.

I feel a campaign coming on and I will write to my GP - I am so ANGRY about this.

Thanks for listening
 
I wish we had some sensible standards that all councils have to meet. Birmingham will deliver an empty sharps bin and collect it when full (droppin a new empty one while they are at it) which is a very very good system.

I do not see why other councils will not do this.
 
I would personally write to the council leader and explain the problem.

ie. that you need to inject to stay alive. You need to safely dispose of needles. No-one wants to take responsibility. The council are presumably responsible for the landfill and refuse, so must have a vested interest in ensuring it doesn't happen again. Why are you havign to buy the bins anyway ? They are free on NHS, assumign Scotland isn't different on that policy.

And then request a response from him within a reasonable period as to whose responsibility it is and how you can ensure they act upon it.

There will be a policy, I'm sure. But they're all just too lazy to take it seriously.

Good luck Hazel.🙂

Rob
 
And email your MP Hazel. It really is NOT good enough.
 
Hazel - a pragmatic suggestion that might make your point - find out what injecting drug users are told to do, then use their bins, sometimes in car parks, sometimes in clinics or chemists etc. I'm not for one moment suggesting that you're using illegal drugs, but it makes the point that someone trying to be responsible (although I'm not clear if the box was traced to a batch number of which you bought one, and how it came to be on the landfill site)

Ironically, if the sharps were in a tin or plastic tub (not yellow sharps bin), there'd be no manufacturer or batch number by which tin / tub could be traced.
 
Il join the campaign ive got 2 full sharps bins in my cupboard as no one will take them , the first was taken by my nurse but not with out a fight, but now no one wants to know they just pass the buck, luckily now im not on any meds so have no reason to use the sharps bin but still its not good enough.

Good luck Hazel with this
 
Copepod, exactly!
 
I wonder what happens to non-diabetic folk who need to inject.? Do they have the same issues? Personally, I'd leave it on the surgery doorstep with a note saying "you prescribe the stuff, you dispose of it".

A Campaign sounds like a good idea, perhaps starting with one of those dot.gov petitions.
 
I'm not that far from you, I got my first one on prescription, haven't yet had to deal with getting one uplifted though. Don't think there is an issue, my friends husband with diabetes has never mentioned it, going to ask her though.

That's crazy though and something you could do without. Why don't you get them on prescription??
 
I found this on the Bath, Wiltshire & Somerset NHS Dibetes service
http://www.bathdiabetes.org/index2.php?section_id=625

'Householders may approach the Local Council to dispose of clinical waste. The council has a duty to provide this service under Section 45(3.9-6.8)) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. They may however make a reasonable charge for this collection'

REFERENCES

Clinical Governance Support Team (April 2004) Disposing of used Syringes and Other Sharp Clinical Waste: Fact sheet No 2 NHS Modernisation AgencyDiabetes UK (January 2004) Position Statement – Safe Disposal of Needles and Lancets Diabetes UK: London.

I hope this is of use
Cheers
 
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As far as I'm concerned the Doctors surgery prescribe them - they can dispose of them - we go through a lot as only have a litre bin in the script, so exery time they give one out they get one back - we put strips and everything else in there.

Another example of postcode lottery I'm afraid. Complain to everyone you can think of😱
 
Have you talked to your GP/surgery practice manager about this? They must have a means of disposal for their sharps bins. They may have to pay for their removal which is maybe why they don't want yours.

P.S. the yellow sharps bins are for the disposal of used sharps, so thats your needles and lancets. You should put other non-sharp waste, such as test strips in the general waste. I use a pair of wire clippers to clip the used needle off and that cut off bit goes in the bin. My surgery takes the bins away but by cutting the needle off (you can get special clippers for this) means a bin will last me a year easy.

What's the penalty for disposing of needles in the general waste? If they are taped responsibly into a drinks can then there shouldn't be a problem.
 
Fortunately my own sharps bin issue is resolved at last -- I took my full (3L?) bin in when I saw the nurse at my surgery, and she accepted it to dispose of with the surgery's full bins. She reckoned this is standard policy for my surgery, although she wasn't the diabetes nurse I'd requested for the appointment (she told me that my surgery also have a doctor who's a diabetes specialist, which is handy to know) she might have been mistaken -- I hope not.
 
LOL at the diabetes specialist GP.

It's the one who either got lumbered or volunteered. Like another will do minor ops, another will do gynae, etc.

They do get training, but nothing like a consultant. However the minor ops guy I see has taken it as far as he can in general practice so he does more properly cosmetic stuff than a lot of surgeries handle. And he's good.

The only good thing about the so called D specialist one in my surgery is that he sees far, far more T2's than T1's anyway so is likely to be a bit more expert with T2 than T1. I sincerley hope. Otherwise they would be stuffed.
 
I would go the old fashioned route if I had that much hassle..

As your doctor for a needle clipper, so you can clip your needle bung your sharps in a tin/bottle tape up securely when full and dump into your dustbin...

Contrary to popular belief your used blood test strips can be put straight into a normal bin, they are a bio-hazard..

As to GP who does minor surgery, not all have it dumped on them our GP that does the minor ops is actually a trained surgeon..
 
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