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Can you drop sharps at pharmacies/GP surgery?

P

pinewood

Well-Known Member
Messages
792
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I recently moved and setting up my sharps bin collections at my new address has been a massive pain. They are still working on getting me set-up on the system so, in the meantime, does anyone know if I can drop my (now full) bin off at a pharmacy or GP surgery or is there some other place I can dispose of sharps until my collections start again?
 
It seems to depend on many things and everywhere is different.
In the past I have tried to give my full sharps bin to my GP and they declined outright.
My pharmacist would only take single items (e.g. my expired "orange box") because they don't have space for much more.

In my area, the council are responsible for collecting sharps containers. Their procedure is for me to contact them giving at least 7 days notice and they will collect the bin very early morning from the street outside my house on the next Wednesday. This means a container full of sharps is left out on the street to be blown around in the wind and kicked by late night excitable wanderers (possibly after a few drops of alcohol) on Tuesday night. When I expressed my concern, I was told the bin was not my responsibility once I had put it on the pavement.

Sorry - I digress. I apologise for venting my frustration on your thread. Hopefully, you will find a local solution/collector. But as @Alison Campbell mentioned, you may need to phone around to find out what happens in your area.
 
Yep same here - council supply bins and collect full ones. 2 working days notice and if on doorstep by 8am they.ll remove it and replace it. Only problem i.ve had is that the first time they left a new one on doorstep my cat got her head stuck in it!

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
Council for me too, I phone and someone turns up anywhere between a few days and a few months later! Last time I called on 5l one, by the time they came I had 12l...
 
pinewood said:
I recently moved and setting up my sharps bin collections at my new address has been a massive pain. They are still working on getting me set-up on the system so, in the meantime, does anyone know if I can drop my (now full) bin off at a pharmacy or GP surgery or is there some other place I can dispose of sharps until my collections start again?
Click to expand...

As Alison say just ring them both and check, either that or wait until you have a system set-up for collecting your sharps bin @pinewood

I don't always take mine back to the gp surgery when full, I'll wait until I've got 2 or 3 bins collected before dropping them all off, they don't seem to mind me doing so (well they've never said if they do).
 
Thanks everyone, I have had to start using empty 2L water bottles because my sharps bin is full and they won't give me a new one until the old one is collected but they won't collect the old one until I am "set up on the system" and apparently this can take months. Such a shambles. Do you think they'll refuse to collect the water bottles?
 
Wow amazing how varied this can be. I'm lucky my GP prescribe the sharps bins to me and I just drop them at a pharmacy that actually takes them (you'll probably have more luck if they do a needle exchange program there).
 
pinewood said:
Thanks everyone, I have had to start using empty 2L water bottles because my sharps bin is full and they won't give me a new one until the old one is collected but they won't collect the old one until I am "set up on the system" and apparently this can take months. Such a shambles. Do you think they'll refuse to collect the water bottles?
Click to expand...

Can you not just get a sharps bin on your repeat @pinewood?

I'm not too sure if the council will collect sharps if they are not in a sharps bin, health & safety and all that........
 
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