For the very many home sharps users in the UK instruction in safe sharps disposal is limited or non-existent.

Indeed, many users are provided with sharps and no method for disposal whatsoever. It happened to me last year. Gradual deterioration of diabetes necessitated sharps use and these were prescribed together with very detailed instruction on correct use, but not a word about disposal and no sharps container.

When I raised this there was a degree of concern, not that such an important issue had been missed, but more that I had raised the issue at all – What a nuisance, someone asking for information about disposal!

That alone proved an opportunity for some training of my own! However, the best one might imagine is a single side of paper, photocopied to within an inch of its life, that might be somewhat out of date and perhaps not coincide precisely with the changing – and generally contracting – services provided by the Local Authority.

Others manage to do much better. In the US, the Volusia County Health Department in Florida have prepared a wonderful instructional video about their Sharps Disposal Program. This supports other information systems, and has been made available in English and Spanish. It makes entirely clear how used sharps can be disposed safely, enabling home users easily to comply with relevant waste regulations.

Congratulations to Volusia County Health Department.

Ian