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Sharps bins help

C

Cd-astro

Member
Messages
20
Hi all, so uk (just incase) type 1 diabetic. I have a massive problem with sharps bins. The council where I live does not collect them (or so they say) and as a type 1 my nurse is adamant that I should not be buying my own. I have no way to get new ones if I don't buy them myself and no way to get rid of the ones I have.

If you have had the same problem what did you do to solve it (if you solved it)?

Please help before I drown in used needles and lancets.
 
Ask your nurse to put them on prescription and what other patients in the area do. My doc had to write to the council to say I needed a collection, then council gave me details of how to arrange it.
 
I know I just take my full sharps bins to my doctors and they take it to be dealt with and give me a new one, I had to buy the first one for myself but it was only about a quid or two to buy it - have you asked your docs if they do that?
 
similar...
How do people dispose of used bg meter strips?
 
MrsA2 said:
similar...
How do people dispose of used bg meter strips?
Click to expand...

Sometimes I'm lazy and put them in the sharps bin (if it's closer than the bin) but I'm happy to put them in with household rubbish. You don't need a sharps bin for a tissue if you have a nosebleed.... (Nor for feminine hygiene products if it's that time of the month....) The reason needles get put in the bin is that they are sharp.
 
I have to take my full sharps bins to my GPs to dispose of, I request a new one on my prescription form as they were added to my repeat prescription.
@MrsA2 my test strips go in the normal bin, on another thread some people said they put the used strips back into the empty tub before putting it in the bin.
 
In my local area, my gp surgery & local hospital won’t take the full sharpe boxes. However, my local hospital gave me details of a company that specialist in sharp box collections.

Therefore, I contacted the company to advise my hospital had given me their details. So luckily I now have a permanent arrangement with them.

This being, I contacted them when I have a few boxes ready for collection. They then make an arrangement with me advising when boxes will be collected.

On their collection of the sharp boxes, they leave me with replacement sharp boxes. I will attach a link for you. Hopefully, this will help you.

https://www.stericycle.co.uk
 
When I used a sharps bin they were on prescription. Getting rid of them is harder, but I stumbled across some documents that said in my ccg, to keep the nhs prescription ability the pharmacy is required to accept sharps bins that it had given out on prescription, I.e. the prescription is the provision AND removal of the box.

Now I use a needle clipper. Easy to carry around, no loose pointy bits. The de-sharped bits go in any bin, the clipper itself goes in any bin when it's full. Highly recommended.
 
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