We received 2,600 claims for needlestick injuries for incidents occurring in the period 2012-2022. Of these, 1,947 were successful claims, costing the NHS £10.8 million. Currently, 167 claims remain open and are still being considered.
Needlestick injuries can be costly to investigate and increase the risk blood-borne infections.
Needlestick injuries can be avoided by:
- using safer sharps;
- ensuring all staff are trained on correct disposal procedures; and
- identifying and addressing issues that increase the risk of sharps injuries such as fatigue, poor lighting or staff shortages.
We’ve created a short animation on needlesticks and an accompanying digital leaflet on needlesticks to highlight how organisations can learn from past needlestick injuries and avoid future harm. You can access both the animation and digital leaflet on our website.
If you’d like to learn more, we’ve published Did you know? digital leaflets on a range of topics. These are all available on our resources page.
