More than 1,200 NHS staff have won compensation after being injured by needles potentially infected with HIV or hepatitis over the past six years.
Official figures reveal an “unacceptable” picture of widespread failures to dispose of needles safely, resulting in pay-outs of at least £4,077,441 since 2012.
Hospitals are under a strict legahttps://www.ianblenkharn.com/wp-admin/options-writing.phpl obligation to dispose of syringes safely, usually by means of a solid, brightly marked “sharps” bin, which doctors and nurses should ensure are close at hand before administering injections.
However, data from NHS Resolution, the body that handles negligence claims against trusts, shows there were 1,833 claims for so-called needlestick injuries between 2012 and 2017.
Of the 1,212 successful claimants, three-quarters were ancillary workers such as porters, cleaners and maintenance staff.
Once accidentally pricked by a used needle, victims face weeks of harrowing uncertainty before finding out if they have contracted a blood-borne disease.
Well done to The Daily Telegraph for highlighting this issue, that here at the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum and in several peer reviewed medical/scientific we have been banging on about for many year now. We make no apology for that, it’s a huge and serious issue that regrettably, to the most part, is the fault of careless and inconsiderate healthcare ‘professionals’.