Sharps Boxes

[candy1567]

Hi All

Just had my sharps box replaced by my local council as it was full and they left me with what i can only describe as a mini dusbin.

I asked the man if i could have the same one as i had (the little size) as this is quite handy when we go out, and he said they only do 1 size as they dont want to empty it more than once every 4 to 6 months.

I then asked well how the hell am i gonna use this when i go out as i dont want to start using a black bin liner as a hang bag, and i was gob smacked at his reply and i quote

*why dont you use a small plastic water bottle and put your used needles in this then when you have finished with it at the end of the day you can throw it away, saves takin the big box with you*

I then pointed out that if this was possible and at all legal then why would we need a clincial waste collection service, he shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

But now am left with with a mini dustbin which now has pride of place in the corner of my bedroom instead of stored away in the draw with all my other diabetic bits,

My partner is also not happy as i have now said am gonna have to redecorate as my red bedroom does not go with my new ornament as thats yellow!!!!!!!!

Juliexx

 

[sugarless sue]

Is this just for lances or actual needles? I use an old test strip container if I need to test outside of the house,fits in a pocket and I empty it when I get home.

 

[rach]

you could follow the advice of a bottle when out perhaps, and then when it comes to disposable time put it into your sharps bin? a bottle has the advantage of being quite subtle too. and for lancets/test strips as sue says the boxes are really good. just a thought, but I keep my (agreed very ugly and very yellow and very large) sharps bin in the shower when I'm not there, with the lid pulled part over just to be safe. a bath would probably hide it quite well too.

 

[candy1567]

Hi Sue

No its for needles as well, am on Byetta.

Just couldn't believe the man who said i can just throw away the water bottle!!!

Oh well we live and learn

Juliexx

 

[sugarless sue]

I have some flat shaped supplement containers which I suppose may work,They could be emptied into your sharps box on return home.Sorry that's the only thing I can think of unless your doctor can provide you with them.

 

[viv1969]

I don't know if you're in the UK or not, but I did a quick search online and there are lots of places that sell sharps containers...even some really small ones (1/2 ltr).
Perhaps you could invest in a couple (they seem pretty cheap) at least that way you'd have something very portable.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Julie,

I don't think what your sharps man was telling you is council policy, just an expression of his own ignorance! You can actually get sharps boxes on prescription from your GP. In my case, my council replaces my 1ltr box with one of the same size. Like you, I don't really want it on display so I keep it in a cupboard and for day-to-day use I put the used pen needles in a small tupperware type box - this holds about 2-3 weeks worth and fits in a drawer with all the other bits of kit. When the box is full I tip them into the sharps bin. The tupperware type box is also ideal for when we are away on holiday where again you don't want to take a bright yellow sharps bin with you.

 

[sussex]

I don't have a problem with the sharps box, they are so ugly now. Bright yellow with a red top. I keep mine in a cupboard out of sight and use a small plastic klippitt box, which I bought from Matalan. I take this on holiday and find it useful. :roll:

 

[rogbert]

Its very easy to get sharps boxes on prescription however its getting rid of them a problem in my area mid herts chemists have stopped taking them the local and county council don't want to know nor do the hospital, so most of us I'm afraid dispose of them in the normal household waste which is terrible .

 

[Dennis]

I thought you might be interested in this extract from the DEFRA website:

Are there any special arrangements for hypodermic needles produced in the home?
Sharps bins can be obtained on prescription (FP10 prescription form) and can be returned to your doctor for disposal when full. There is also a duty on local authorities to collect and dispose of household generated waste including clinical/sharps waste from households. However, collection of clinical/sharps waste does not arise until a person requests such a service. Local authorities may then levy a reasonable charge on the waste holder for the collection of that waste. On no account should soft drink cans, plastic bottles or similar containers be used for the disposal of needles, since these could present serious hazards to staff if they were disposed of in domestic waste.

So it would appear from this that if you ask your local authority to dispose of your sharps bin then legally they cannot refuse, but they can charge you for providing the service.

 

[rogbert]

sorry but as I said before the local councils are not interested in their disposal Ive spoken to other users who have the same opinion as me However I'm still reluctant to dispose of them in the domestic waste so they are mounting up
cheers
rog

 

[jopar]

You can also get a needle clipper on prescription as well…

When I was first diabetic the wasn’t such a thing as ‘clinical waste’ what you did was put your syringes into a old drinks can, or strong bottle when full tapes it pretty well and toss it into your rubbish bin…

It’s not so much the case of cross contamination of body fluids that is of concern, it is more that with needles and lancets there is a possibility that if they are well protected could leave the dustman open to finger stick pricks, and a lot of anguish to whether they’ve picked up anything!

Mind you with saying that, if my bin men are anything to go by, the likely hood that they might get a finger prick injury is highly unlikely as if any rubbish is drop either from bin or the back of the bin lorry, they don’t pick it up but just leave it where it fell!! Quite often you see a trail of rubbish down the road that they’ve dropped…

 

[rach]

rogbert your post interested me as I am originally from herts too, fortunately I had no sharps bin when there. now I'm in south london - my GP take mine, I'm sure you've tried asking yours but just another thought I couldn't see mentioned

 

[kegstore]

and a further variation on the theme:

My GP's surgery now REFUSE to take my full sharps boxes, as they say they have to pay for their disposal. Funny, that's what I thought I paid taxes and national insurance for them to do.

My local council WILL collect, but charge a fee. Odd too, that's what I thought I paid my council tax for them to do. Particularly irritating as I am a singleton with no kids, yet my council tax contribution is clearly helping to fund the excellent education system around here. Hey ho... :evil:

 

[johnbobs]

Hi All

hi candy

You where lucky when the man came to pick up my sharps box up he did not have a replacement but by the discription you gave l dont think l would want one. My wife would go mad Yellow.
But joking apart this is not ON.

If you would like to here more about Merseyside Diabetes Support Group ring 0151 222 0637 :lol:

 

[Paul_PC]

I thought I'd re-invigorate this topic as I'm of the opinion that the subject of issue/disposal of clinical waste for diabetics in the UK is a national disgrace!

Here's an extract of from an email from the waste management department of my local authority after I asked them to collect my sharps box:

"Sharps containers etc. have to be obtained and returned to your doctor I’m afraid, we can’t set up a clinical waste collection. Sorry I can’t help."

I pointed the lady in the direction of the authority's own website, which advertises domestic clinical waste collections. She responded:

"20 years in service and I didn’t know that info was on the web page! Sorry. I’ll request to have that page reviewed.

What we’ll need to instigate the collection is a referral from the doctor or district nurse, however we wouldn’t replenish your sharps box, these are provided by the doctor."

What a shambles!!

I've only been injecting for a couple of months and the hospital gave me a nice-sized 0.6ltr sharps box, with the advice that any pharmacy would take it when it was full and issue me with an empty one. Nice theory... The reality is that the five pharmacies I tried - Day-Lewis, Co-op, Boots, Asda, and Lloyds - told me to get lost, they weren't interested. The Co-op actually told me to go to a needle exchange! However, they told me that this service was only for drug users. Lloyds offered to sell me an empty sharps box. Eventually, I went to my surgery, where they took my handy little sharps box off me and tried to issue me with something the size of a bucket, as it's all they had! I eventually went to the diabetes centre of my local hospital, where I begged them to give me a box. They said at first that they couldn't, as they have to pay for them but eventually relented. YAY!. There's a company called SharpSafe who offered to collect and deliver every two months for about £27 a month!

Just doing some online research (especially on these boards) I'm amazed at the number of people who put their sharps into domestic waste for landfill but, to be honest, who can blame them if the process is such hard work?

Time for a national roll-out of a safe disposal scheme for these things. Would anybody sign an online petition if I created one?

 

[picklebean]

You can get a sharps bin on repeat prescription from your GP.... or at least, I can. Have you asked your GP and explained what size you need? It's not a matter of what they have at the surgery, they can prescribe the bin on a normal prescription like any other medication or medical equipment.

 

[Paul_PC]

You can get a sharps bin on repeat prescription from your GP.... or at least, I can. Have you asked your GP and explained what size you need? It's not a matter of what they have at the surgery, they can prescribe the bin on a normal prescription like any other medication or medical equipment.

I've now asked for one on 'script but it's amazing how much misinformation there is out there!

 

[picklebean]

I've now asked for one on 'script but it's amazing how much misinformation there is out there!

HA! There's misinformation left right and centre about T1 and T2 diabetes... I'm beginning to think it's some kind of sick joke. :roll:

Glad you've got it sorted though!

 

[noblehead]

You can get a sharps bin on repeat prescription from your GP.... or at least, I can. Have you asked your GP and explained what size you need? It's not a matter of what they have at the surgery, they can prescribe the bin on a normal prescription like any other medication or medical equipment.

Mines on repeat and I just hand it in at the surgery once its full.