Supporting safety in the diabetes setting

In 2010, the European Council identified the need to provide greater protection to all healthcare, downstream, and associated workers in the hospital and healthcare sector who are at risk of sharps injury. The European Union (EU) Directive 2010/321 was drawn up with the aim to set out a new legal framework for the management of sharps and needlestick injuries (NSI) within the EU member states. By 11 May 2013, all EU member states were expected to comply by incorporating the Directive into national law. The UK complied by transposing the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 into national law.2 The Regulations assist healthcare organisations with their transition to a safer working environment and help to ensure the safest possible working environment for those at risk of injury by sharps.

As a result of EU Directive 2010/32, in October 2011, 58 leaders in the field of injection technique and sharps safety from 13 countries convened in Brussels to attend the Workshop on Injection Safety in Endocrinology (WISE). The UK delegates at WISE included diabetes nurse specialists along with an infection prevention and control specialist and a general medical practitioner. This group later came together to form the Forum for Injection Technique for Safety (FIT4Safety) UK and Ireland.

FIT4Safety is part of the wider Forum for Injection Technique (FIT) endeavour. FIT is an autonomous organisation whose overarching mission is to support healthcare workers (HCWs) and people with diabetes using injectable therapies to achieve the best possible health outcomes that can be influenced by correct injection technique. FIT4Safety strives to provide evidence-based best practice information which encompasses all people in the diabetes care setting at risk of sharps/needlestick injury (NSI).