Urgent need for safer devices for injecting drugs into the spine and not mixing them up with other drugs.

BBC News reports that the NHS, prompted by the National Patient Safety Agency, is threatening to stop using current drug equipment in a bid to get firms to start making safer devices. They want to see an end to universal syringe connectors which can be used for jabs into both the vein and spine.

Wayne Jowett's parents have been campaigning about this since the terrible suffering and death of their son, reported here. See also here. Since Wayne's agonising and avoidable death, after the highly toxic drug vincristine was injected into his spine when it should have been injected into a vein, staff have been given extra training and there are now strict rules governing the separate storage of spinal and intravenous drugs. But despite improvements in safety, mistakes are still occurring.