Convoluted route to get answers about disposing of sharps bins

Richard Knowles, Carisbrooke:

In March, the County Press reported on the two year conundrum facing people on the Island who require medical sharps bins as part of safely managing their health condition.

The bins are the approved way for those who self treat health conditions such as Type 1 diabetes to safely dispose of used medical needles.

The bulky nature of some equipment containing medical sharps means the one litre bins fill up very quickly and a significant number are required.

Problems with the current supply of one litre sharps bins available through the take back scheme managed by Island pharmacies on behalf of the IW Council means pharmacies run out and patients are turned away to travel the Island in the often forlorn hope of finding a pharmacy that may have one available.

This has resulted in some patients resorting to storing used sharps in inappropriate containers that then cannot be returned to pharmacies.

This has led to stockpiling of used sharps in peoples’ homes and, in desperation, some resorting to the disposal of sharps via the domestic waste system. Both of these outcomes pose a significant public health risk.

Larger sharps bins are available via an FP10 prescription, but these larger bins are not included in the current take back scheme and, once full, there is no easy way to dispose of them.

Up until this week, the only clear outcome of the two years of back and forth debate between the partner organisations is that it’s been established that it is the IW Council’s responsibility to dispose of medical sharps - treated as household waste and must be collected by the “waste authority”.

Having been pursuing this issue myself since November and, frustrated at this lack of progress, I have now submitted two written questions and sat in the public gallery at two meetings of the IW Council’s Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Health and Social Care.

In March, the committee made it clear that the situation was unacceptable. I raised a supplementary question as to what Island patients should do with their used sharps until such time as the council has resolved the collection issue.

The council’s waste services subsequently wrote to me with the assurance that if a resident was having difficulty finding a pharmacy to take their sharps or had to gather a large number at home they simply needed to email waste.contract@iow.gov.uk and the team would assist.

I was advised that the council’s website would make this clear. Except, it didn’t.

As of early June, the website still states emphatically “We do not collect sharps from households. You can take these to a pharmacy using the sharps take back scheme”

Except, other than the one litre bins, you can’t.

So it was back to the public gallery for June’s Scrutiny Committee meeting.

I’d submitted another question asking what progress has been made. A written response was provided, this time with rather more meaningful detail. This was read out at the meeting.

A number of actions are reportedly now being progressed that include a review of the current pharmacy take-back scheme, which pharmacies can manage larger bins, updating the list of pharmacies (and the council’s website!), identifying any gaps in service provision for those not able to physically access pharmacies, drawing up a business case for new door to door collection service alongside the take-back scheme.

If you want to see our local elected representatives in action at the recent Scrutiny Committee meeting, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5Mj-Rn-cKE (scroll down to watch). The discussion on sharps bins is from 7 minutes and 50 seconds.

But be warned, due to what I was subsequently advised were “technical issues”, my contributions are muted and viewers will be treated to almost three minutes of silence.

So, hopefully some positive progress.

That said, it still doesn’t answer the immediate question of what residents are to do with their medical sharps, if they cannot dispose of them via the existing scheme.

I asked a supplementary question in this respect and after some discussion it was agreed that information on a temporary solution be made available within seven days.

I’m very pleased to report that, as of June 5, it finally is.

In short, if you have a large medical sharps bin that you are unable to dispose of, you should contact the council’s waste team on 01983 823777 or by emailing waste.contract@iow.gov.uk. I’ll be testing this myself shortly.

As for obtaining empty sharps bins, let’s hope the supply issues with the smaller bins will be resolved soon.

However, now the council have made an assurance that there is a facility for the safe disposal of larger bins, there is now a good reason to obtain them via an FP10 prescription from your GP.

I hope someone lets the GPs know.

The next Scrutiny Committee meeting is on September 2. If you’re interested in hearing about any progress, there are plenty of seats in the public gallery!