Needle Sweeps in Merseyside

Needles turn up in bin stores, stairwells, lift lobbies and the grounds around flats. Landlords also call us when a void home has used needles left behind, and we sweep before contractors or new tenants go in. Site managers use us for car parks, loading yards and empty units. Businesses such as shops and warehouses call us when staff spot sharps by the back door.

Care homes and clinics use us too. Where staff are administering medication such as insulin, sharps bins are in daily use and must be handled correctly, and a lost sharp needs a proper search.

On the Wirral, the council removes reported needles from highways and council property. Needles found on private or commercial property are the job of the owner or the business. Check with your local council if you are not sure who owns the land.

Sefton Council aims to collect a needle reported in school or nursery grounds within one hour on a normal working day.

Merseyside's five boroughs recorded 25,058 visits to needle and syringe programmes in 2024/25. These are service visits, not needles found. Of those, 18,054 involved psychoactive drugs and 7,004 involved steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

Liverpool recorded 8,114 visits for psychoactive drugs, St Helens 3,899, Wirral 2,917, Sefton 2,056 and Knowsley 1,068. Liverpool also logged 2,652 visits for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, which puts its total at over 10,700.

Liverpool had the highest rate of people presenting for psychoactive drug use, at 32.1 per 10,000 residents. Its programmes gave out an average of 336.6 clean needles per client, the only area in the wider Cheshire and Merseyside group to pass the 200 benchmark. Sefton's online service sent out at least 57,038 needles and Knowsley's at least 18,258 in 2024/25.

Across England, people who injected in the past year collected a median of 240 needles each, yet only 64.9% said they got enough clean equipment.

Used needles sit under rubbish, in bin stores, among bushes and inside empty properties. Sefton cleared 3,709 fly-tipping incidents in its latest financial year at a cost of about £369,000, and any dumped heap can hide sharps. Stairwells, alleyways, garages and other public areas are the usual spots. A pile of drug paraphernalia is a warning sign, so we search harder around it.

Improperly disposed needles can pass on bloodborne pathogens. Used needles can stay infectious for hours or days, and needlestick injuries can lead to serious infections. Children, pets and the general public all face serious risks from a needle left on the ground.

The HSE rates the chance of catching a virus from a discarded community needle as extremely low. A survey in England found 24.8% of people who inject drugs shared needles or syringes in the past four weeks, and 44.4% when other equipment was counted. In a UK survey of over 3,500 people who inject drugs, 76% had at least one hepatitis B dose but only 45% had all three.

NHS Resolution received 2,600 needlestick claims for incidents between 2012 and 2022, and 1,947 succeeded, costing almost £10.8 million. Of those, 1,460 involved cleaners, porters, laundry and maintenance staff, against 432 clinical staff.

Sharps incidents on NHS Property Services sites rose from 162 to 257 in a year, a jump of 59%. Incorrect disposal was linked to 48% of them. There is no complete UK count of needlestick injuries, so the true number is likely higher.

Skipping a sweep carries serious risks for staff and tenants. Needle sweeps reduce the risk of needlestick injuries by getting sharps out before anyone finds them, and they improve safety in public areas and private land. Prompt sharps removal is how we restore safety, protect people and protect public health.