Making Healthcare Safer For All

A growing awareness emerges of the problem of needlestick injuries in the NHS. Dr Philip Bickford Smith, a Consultant Anaesthetist at Bradford Hospital begins running workshops in his area to help highlight the problem. Unison begins campaigning on the issue.

The main NHS unions and the Royal College of Nursing begin campaigning on the issue alongside the British Medical Association.

The Safer Needles Network (SNN) is formed to formally bring these groups together and help drive awareness of needlestick injuries in the NHS.

Dr Paul Grime, a Consultant in Occupational Medicine is appointed as the new Chairman of the Safer Needles Network and the National Audit Office releases a landmark report which highlights the scale of needlestick injuries in the NHS.

The Network launches the ‘Safer Needles Now!’ A campaign calling for legislation to tackle the issue.

A landmark legal case in Scotland states that a lack of resources cannot be used as an excuse for poor practice and a lack of safety provisions.

In parallel with the SNN’s activities in the UK, the European Biosafety Network was formed and began campaigning for European legislation to prevent needlestick or sharps injuries.

The EU Sharps Directive is passed mandating the need for the use of safety needles in healthcare settings.

Working with the SNN the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) transpose the EU Sharps Directive into UK law creating the 2013 Sharps Regulations.

The regulations help drive a change in culture around the risk of sharps injuries and supported by enforcement from the Care Quality Commission and Health and Safety Executive, the market is converted from around 3% using safer sharps in the early 2000s to 80% by 2017.

The SNN begins to broaden its agenda to include other healthcare worker safety issues, particularly looking at the exposure of workers and patients to hazardous and carcinogenic drugs.

The SNN is rebranded as the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network to reflect its now broader agenda and launches the ‘Safety for All’ Campaign. A campaign aimed at raising awareness around the symbiotic relationship of healthcare worker safety and patient safety.