Banish needlesticks, demands UNISON

A nurse’s death has prompted public services union UNISON to demand the introduction of safer needles throughout the NHS.

Juliet Young contracted HIV from a needlestick injury in 1999 while working at the Maudsley Mental Health Hospital, London. An inquest last month recorded a verdict of accidental death.

“Safer needles are available,” said UNISON head of health Karen Jennings after the inquest. “How many more people have to die before NHS employers make safer needles compulsory?”