Trust orders report as bags labelled ‘medical waste’ found on road. So screams the headline of the Londonderry Sentinel.

It is a cause for concern, for several reasons. On May 24, several bags of foul-smelling rubbish were discovered on the Fincairn Road in Drumahoe. A local resident came across the noxious waste. He said he believed they may have fallen off the back of a skip lorry of which he says there are many that regularly use the route.

“The Trust became aware that a small amount of bagged waste had been found on the Fincairn Road on Friday (May 24) after a member of the public contacted the Trust.

“The external contractor who was managing the collection, transport and removal of this waste was contacted and the Trust recovered the waste immediately,” the spokesperson said.

Although one of the bags was labelled ‘medical waste’ the spokesperson said this was not the case.

“It is important to note that none of the waste found was ‘medical or hospital’ waste but was classified as normal waste, which would include such items as paper towels, paper cups, kitchen rolls and handtowels.

So, how strange that black bags are in use here, labelled “medical waste – not for incineration”. For the UK, NI and Ireland, this is a strange terminology that is bound to cause confusion, including confusion at the point of disposal since it is not impossible that healthcare professionals might be confused about the term medical waste and use these sacks for clinical wastes.

The terminology complicates the value of colour coding and though it may work locally may result in problems with new staff and those used to more conventional labelling of waste containers. Since healthcare staff comprise a mobile workforce with considerable movement between employers, this is a recipe for error.

It would have been useful if the explanation from the Trust had been a little more accurate, instead of weaselling their way out of criticism with a not particularly accurate explanation. HTM 07-01 and its predecessor documents has established a clear regimen for waste segregation and packaging that does not include the term “medical waste”, and most definitely when printed on a black sack!