HOSPITALS have been banned from disposing of aborted and miscarried babies by burning them as clinical waste.
The Scottish Government have issued guidelines to health boards stating the practice is no longer acceptable.
All remains arising from a miscarriage or an abortion must now be given a formal burial or cremation.
It comes after concerns were raised that foetuses aborted before 24 weeks were being placed in disposal bags and incinerated with clinical waste.
http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cmo/CMO(2012)07.pdf
Regulation dates back to at least 1992, Sensitive Disposal of Fetuses and Fetal Tissue following Termination of Pregnancy SOHHD/DGM (1992) but provides greater clarity of the required process acceptable for disposal of this waste stream. In reality however, it severs more to reduce the ‘wriggle room’ in interpretation of what is meant by “sensitive disposal”.
All well and good, but costs will rise and there may well be additional complaints in relation to bulk cremations and/or religious rites and rituals. This may escalate costs disproportionately. Who pays is the next question? If it is the patient, then some will not be able to afford, or simply will not pay, for this service. Will the taxpayer, though the NHS Trusts, be liable?
And what of home miscarriages? To add distress by the arrival of an undertaker seems entirely inappropriate. Logically, the community midwife would deal with disposal – using a clinical waste sack, later to transfer this waste to a separate waste stream. This seems like a recipe for confusion and may be a retrograde step inviting ever more complaints compared with existing guidance.