A MAN says he has not slept since a hypodermic needle stabbed his foot in Bournemouth hospital’s car park.


Ben Troman, 29, faces a nervous wait to learn if he has been infected by HIV after the two-inch discarded needle pierced through his trainer at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.


Mr Troman and partner Sophie have had to put their plans for a baby on hold until he can be tested in six months’ time.

Mr Troman, a former grounds maintenance worker, said: “I felt an excruciating pain in my right foot.


“I looked down, thinking it was a piece of glass at first.


“A needle was hanging out of my foot. I went to be sick. I felt instantly worried and sick.”


The couple and Sophie’s two children spent nearly two hours in A&E as medical staff cleaned up the wound, which is on the arch of his foot.


“There were a lot of children walking around,” Mr Troman, from Bingham Road, in Verwood, said.


“Luckily my partner’s daughter was in her buggy. I have not slept for two minutes.


“The first night I couldn’t sleep, I just kept drinking pints of water, feeling sick and just thinking about everything.”


He added: “I was meant to be going to college for an employability course but I’ve had to cancel that.


“I just cannot bring myself to go out at the moment.”


Staff at the hospital told him “accidents happen” and that needles “do stray” during transportation, Mr Troman added.


A spokesman for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it takes all needle stick injuries very seriously.


He said: “Incidents like these are very rare and none of this nature have been formally reported at the Trust over the last eight years.”


The Trust has “very stringent” protocols for needle disposal and any incident involving a needle stick injury is reported to the Trust’s risk management team so it can been thoroughly investigated, he added.