Basildon Hospital is under investigation for failing to properly dispose of potentially hazardous medical waste, including used syringes.

The Environment Agency are ‘probing’ how syringes and other equipment used to drain bodily fluids from patients, as well as other used medical supplies, made it into the general waste and from there to a Veolia recycling centre!

Veolia Environmental Services, which removes the hospital’s general waste, discovered used equipment was being thrown out with the rubbish this month.  An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: “Regulations are designed to ensure different wastes are dealt with in appropriate ways to protect the environment and human health. “We are investigating the destination of waste from the hospital.”

A Veolia whistleblower said: “The hospital failed to spot dangerous contaminants in clear rubbish bags and failed to check before decanting it into a large loader.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9937827.Used_syringes_thrown_in_hospital___s_rubbish/

Though rarely identified this type of problem occurs more often that is generally realised. Waste audits have become part of the routine of clinical waste management. As we have criticised bitterly on many occasions previously, almost all audits focus on the content of clinical waste containers, often finishing with indignation about the presence of a few sweetie wrappers or an empty drinks can in a yellow or orange sack. That simply does not matter!

Of concern is the finding of rogue wastes in black, or clear, general waste sacks. Clear sacks aid recognition of  these fugitive clinical wastes, but in black sacks nobody will know unless there is a sharps injury or blood spillage. By then, it is too late.

Clear sacks are a great idea, but so too is the inclusion in regular waste audits of the composition of wastes in black (clear) sacks as this gives a better indication of segregation standards.

And though the trend is to ever more source segregation, there is another option. In clinical areas including wards and ITU, operating theatres, some laboratories and pharmacies, black bags can be removed entirely. With all but primary packaging waste removed for separate disposal, the system is largely fail safe for all but stray sharps placed into a waste sack. The amounts of domestic type waste generated in a busy surgical ward is modest at best, and its disposal with clinical wastes is fail safe, environmentally sound and of little economic impact.

As an aside, at Basildon the investigations may perhaps find a culprit. Will there be robust disciplinary action taken?

With increasing concern about pharmaceutical residues on drug packaging waste, the management of these wastes with all other pharmaceutical waste will soon be upon us.  We have proposed before these developments, of waste audit to encompass examination of non-clinical waste containers, and of the removal of black bags from clinical areas. We will continue to do so.

With developments in materials or energy recovery from treated wastes, this approach becomes even more practicable. Watch this space.