One needle a day being picked up in city centre

Safety wardens uplifted 846 needles from the city’s streets last year

Recently released statistics reveal that more than 800 needles were found in Dundee last year, with one picked up every day in the city centre.

Needles are found after drug users throw them away.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that in 2016, 846 needles were cleared by community safety wardens.

The worst affected area was the city centre, where 365 were removed, followed by Stobswell with 136 and Hilltown with 66.

David Liddell, chief executive officer of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “The challenge for Dundee is to provide effective services for people who inject publicly.

“Examples of approaches that have been adapted include outreach services and safer injecting facilitates.

“These approaches aim to build trust with individuals and enable them to engage with other services.”

He added that he believes the best overall approach is to take the service to individuals rather than waiting for people to reach out for help.

He said: “There are strong arguments for these services on humanitarian grounds, but also because they are proven to save costs to the health services, for example, in terms of saving treatment costs for hepatitis c or HIV.”

The figures show a significant decrease from 2013, when 2,763 needles were found across the city.

From January to May this year, however, 623 needles have been uplifted already, meaning the number is likely to rise again from last year.

Ken Lynn, chairman of the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership, said that while the drop in the last few years was welcome, the council is committed to doing “everything possible” to ensure further reduction.

He said: “It is important to note that the number of needles being collected has reduced significantly in the past five years, which reflects the activity that is going on in our communities, but we are continuing to work hard to bring the numbers of used and discarded needles down even further.

“We work closely with colleagues in Care Scotland who deliver harm reduction services on our behalf across the city.

“Their work focuses on advice and encouragement to people not to inject in public places and not to discard used needles.

“Drug users are given every opportunity to return needles, use special sharps bins or otherwise dispose of them in a safe way for them and for the communities they live in.”

In September 2015, contractors working for Scottish Water pulled dozens of used needles from drains and service hatches in a housing estate in Ardler, leading councillors to call for action on the problem.

While the number of discarded needles in Dundee has fallen since 2013, last year community safety wardens found and disposed of 846, with 365 of these being found in the city centre.