A parliamentary Bill to give healthcare and public sector workers greater
protection from needle-stick injuries has been introduced by a Labour MP.
Crawley MP Laura Moffatt, a former nurse, introduced the Needle-Stick Injury
Bill back in February.
The Bill calls for provision to be made for workers who come into contact
with hypodermic needles – particularly those working in healthcare where most
injuries occur – to be protected from needle-stick injuries and the infections
that can result. It is estimated that 100,000 such injuries are reported each
year.
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It also called for the better recording and publication of information about
such injuries and infections, and the establishment of standards relating to
the supply and use of equipment that carries a "significant" risk of
causing needle-stick injuries.
"It is astonishing to learn that needle-stick injury is second only to
violence and aggression as a cause of occupational injury in the NHS,"
Moffatt told the House of Commons.
