From: Ian Blenkharn@ianblenkharn.com
Category: Miscellaneous
Date: 25 Aug 2008
Time: 10:42:25 +0200
Remote Name: 86.146.8.18
Probe launched over hospital laundry firm waste horror
Headlines like this are intended to sell newspapers, and they probably do. But in this case, the issue is wildly exaggerated.
"A LEADING cleaning firm is being investigated after bags of contaminated and soiled hospital linen were left exposed in a storage yard.
"Horrified locals spotted the pink and red bags yards from their homes.
"They contained contaminated sheets, bedding, pillows, curtains and clothing from two private hospitals - Murrayfield in Edinburgh and Ross Hall in the south side of Glasgow.
"Most of the items are covered in blood, faeces and urine.
"There is also the possibility the contents could be contaminated with infectious bugs such as C.diff or MRSA.
"Health inspectors are now probing laundry firm Sunlight, which has the contract to clean and return the items.
[more]
Of course, leaving contaminated waste in open and accessible locations is not ideal. For clinical wastes, and if the extent of contamination of this laundry is as described there is some reasonable similarity and comparison is valid, contracts are almost always required to guarantee waste security with locked buildings, high fences and, unusually, all wastes stored indoors.
But now consider our hospitals. Almost always, wastes are stored out of doors, and generally without any provision for security. Even worse, we keep individual clinical waste sacks close to or between patients beds, until removed for disposal which may often mean that they are left to stand in a corner of the car park for a day or two more.
I would love to know on what basis these 'Health inspectors' are doing their investigation. And indeed on what basis they are qualified and competent so to do.
It would be refreshing also to know why those same health inspectors, and more particularly the Environment Agency and HSE inspectors, don't make any effort to improve the standards of clinical waste management in our hospitals and elsewhere. Perhaps it takes just too much effort.