Needle stick injuries: how can we minimise our risk?

In the United Kingdom (UK) there is inequity in health care workers access to safer sharps and needle free systems. The availability of safer sharps and needle free systems is dependent on the budget manager authorising the purchase of these devices within individual hospitals. This can mean that within the same organisation one department can be using safer sharps and needle free systems, while another department is denied access to such equipment. This is partly due to competing priorities for scarce health care resources, which is becoming more acute, and lack of national guidance to employers to provide such safety equipment for their employees. At the current time the UK does not have a mandatory reporting system for sharps injuries, so the true extend of the problem is not fully understood.