title: Sharps injuries and their prevention:  what the new European legislation may mean for palliative care services.
abstract: Approximately 3 million health-care workers throughout the world, and more than 1 million in Europe, experience a percutaneous injury each year as a result of accidents with needles or other sharps. The consequences of this can be devastating, ranging from fear, anxiety, discomfort, and embarrassment to contraction of blood-borne infections. A new European Union Directive on the prevention of sharps injuries that must be implemented by May 2013 aims to ensure that health-care workers throughout Europe have access  to safer sharps and needle-free devices. The present paper outlines what the introduction of this directive will mean for health-care services, with particular consideration of palliative and specialist palliative care services.
authors.affiliation: Central South Coast Cancer Network. Janice.Gabriel@csccn.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gabriel
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010166:Palliative Care; D012308:Risk Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data