The syringe disposal service hosted by Queanbeyan Pharmacy costs about $6000 a year to run. Photo: Simon Blacker.
A collection point for sharps has an uncertain future, after the regional council “housekeeping” discovered ongoing funding.
Queanbeyan Pharmacy has hosted a needle and syringe disposal service, funded by Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC), for more than two decades.
In documents for a recent meeting, it was recommended that the council stop funding the service.
It costs about $6000 a year to run, with waste management company Cleanaway Daniels collecting the deposited sharps.
“This arrangement appears to be a legacy public health initiative which is not currently offered to any other pharmacies in the region and does not align with the overall purview of community waste management,” the document states.
Queanbeyan Pharmacy managing director Simon Blacker told Region people could drop off sharps into a 50-litre container inside the premises.
The bins are collected every three weeks, with roughly three or four bins being collected, he said.
“It’s not discrete, but it’s out of the way … People can just lean in, lift up the lid and drop in sharps to be disposed [of],” Mr Blacker said of the service.
He said “99 per cent” of patrons appeared to be living with chronic health issues (such as diabetes), as they were bringing in large numbers of sharps at once.
During the council meeting, Cr Katrina Willis supported the recommendation, saying the pharmacy could seek alternative funding, and other services could fill the gap if it had to close.
“It’s not as though we’re in a remote town where there is only one place and it is this, which the council is currently funding,” she said.
According to the council documents, NSW Health, an industry body and QPRC operate more than 100 other disposal sites across the local government area.
The documents state a service agreement with Cleanaway Daniels expired in 2019, but had “continued automatically on a month-by-month basis”.
The meeting heard that the continuing funding was revealed during “a matter of housekeeping around our budget”, while QPRC “hasn’t expressed an interest to renew the contract overtly”.
Queanbeyan Council has put off a decision on the needle and syringe disposal service to an unknown date. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Cr Bryce Wilson’s attempt to defer the decision so more information could be gathered on the scheme was successful.
He said they were “missing” further consultation with Queanbeyan Pharmacy.
“It really is, it seems, a historical quirk … It’s a housekeeping thing we’ve come across,” he said.
“There’s no public health [concerns], and considering people are using this, I’m not sure why there’s urgency ‘now, now’ [to decide].”
Mr Blacker argued the program didn’t offer him “business advantage over other pharmacies”, as people were not bringing their “sharps and scripts” to the pharmacy.
He also urged councillors to consider the impact of any change on the public.
“[If a different service] can cope with the volume, is easily accessible and is more economical for council, then I understand,” he said.
“Our concern was if this disappears, where [do] we send people … that’s what we want to ascertain now.”
He said he wasn’t “going to wear that frustration on our staff” if a replacement service wasn’t liked by patrons.
The proposal will return to the council at a future date.
