Dental clinic failures
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reported that West Street Dental Practice in Congleton is not meeting the essential standard and must improve. Key failures were in cleanliness and infection […]
healthcare waste
Confidential paper disposal
“Confidential patient details were thrown out in the wrong bin at Peterborough City Hospital, breaching data laws. “An investigation has been launched by Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust […]
Including waste management in service planning
It often seems that waste management is a last minute add-in to most management plans. An irritating afterthought which sits uncomfortably with established operations, planning of new or reconfigured services […]
Managing Norovirus infection wastes
New guidelines are hot off the press regarding the management of Norovirus infection in acute and community health and social care settings. Those guidelines, prepared after collaboration between the British […]
Novel contraption for Vietnam clinical wastes
A clinical waste incinerator built by a local farmer may not be totally efficient and pollution free but it’s churning through waste that was otherwise dangerous and time consuming to […]
Tissue waste disposal
More on the case of the widow of a US army soldier who died in combat and from whom some body parts once recovered after the incident and from immediate […]
US sending its hospital waste to other countries?
A news bulletin reports that Brazil recently received two containers with 45 tons of illegal hospital waste from the US. Inspectors found bed sheets, dressing gowns, pillowcases, aprons, and diapers, along […]
Secure disposal of anaesthetic and related drug waste
It is almost invariable that, in the anaesthetic room, the operating theatre, in the Intensive Care and Neonatal Units, in A&E and occasionally in the Imaging Department, controlled drugs and […]
The horrors of war
Sadly, the world continues to witness war and conflict, and in consequence the death toll on every side continues to climb. Each one an individual, a father or son, a mother, […]
Acknowledging adverse health effects of military burn pits
Legislation introduced in the House would require the Veterans Affairs Department to create a register for veterans who have health problems they believe are related to exposure to open-air burn […]
Hepatitis B virus infection among medical waste handlers in Addis Ababa
Hepatitis B virus infection among medical waste handlers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is a real problem. In a detailed research paper from that country, the incidence of Hepatitis B was […]
Community pharma waste collection schemes
We make no apology for repeating on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum, yet again, the news of community hazardous household waste collections schemes operating in the US. Although there are some […]
Changing trends in community healthcare
There are changing trends in community healthcare driven largely, though not exclusively, by the need for cost saving. This places many more patients into the community, from early hospital discharge […]
US hospital saves $100,000 with ‘green’ practices
The Johns Hopkins University Hospital has saved $100,000 over a number of months by reducing its medical waste by 16 percent and by putting it in the correct containers. “Red […]
Ill-advised in Ilminister?
The old women’s public loos in Ilminster look set to be given a new lease of life. South Somerset District Council, which owns the property, has spent several months trying to lease it […]
Norovirus risk for waste handlers
The Norovirus season will be upon us soon, and though much of the waste – mainly vomit bowls and the like – will go into the washer macerator, a great deal of […]
Pharmaceutical waste management
Whether the waste from pharmaceutical R&D, manufacturing, stocking and over-stocking in pharmacies, over-prescribing or patient non-compliance, there is a great need to minimise pharmaceutical waste. The combined aims must be […]
Illicit salvage for re-use
Reduce, reuse, recycle. It seems sensible but in many countries the reality is of illicit salvage of items from clinical wastes followed by repackaging (of sorts) and reuse, all without […]
Strike action
Hospital ancillary staff in Queensland’s public hospitals are expected to ramp up industrial action in their fight for a better pay deal. New bans on a range of patient services will […]
Vietnam struggles with medical waste disposal infrastructure
More than half of the medical waste incinerators in Vietnam have been left unused because their owners do not have money to pay for fuel and maintenance. Especially, they still do […]
Ooops – patient data files out with waste
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust breached the Data Protection Act by accidentally destroying 10,000 archived records, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said. Last updated: Sunday, June 29, 2014
Single use vs reusable sharps containers
In a carefully managed PR release, information of a presentation given at a Chicago environmental meeting reports a claim of reduced CO2 emission and lowered environmental impact from reusable sharps disposal […]
More prescriptions, more waste
Scotland’s GPs are complaining that the free prescription policy in Scotland puts on them extra pressure with patients wanting their free prescription for this, that and the other. Last updated: […]
Indian hospital troubled by broken incinerator
News in The times of India that a hospital in Kanpur is presently suffering the consequences of a broken incinerator. Though it is officially disputed, clinical wastes are being burned […]
Waste audit
In a nice piece posted recently on editNet, the SRCL sales & marketing director says that many NHS Trusts have traditionally separated out their waste streams because they believe it’s the […]
Superbugs escape through hospital sewers
Antibiotic-resistant pathogens born in hospitals may enter the wider environment through the facilities’ sewers, although the magnitude of the danger remains unclear. A team from the Federal University of Saõ […]
Wastewater treatment to remove pharma residues
The removal of pharma residues from waste treatment process waters or more generally from wastewaters from hospitals and nursing homes, from intensive agricultural facilities and perhaps even from community wastewater […]
Oman – National strategy for medical waste management soon
The state-owned Oman Environmental Services Holding Company SAOC (OESHCO) is formulating a national strategy to manage the large volumes of ‘potentially lethal’ clinical (medical) waste generated by the country’s vast […]
Clinical waste security – watch out for spies
Waste security at all points from producer sites though intermediate storage area and transport to the point of final destruction is of obvious importance. In no particular order, protection against […]
Legislating drug waste disposal
The proposed US Pharmaceutical Stewardship Act of 2011 (HR 2939) would “set up a nonprofit corporation financed by pharmaceutical producers which would be responsible for establishing comprehensive drug take-back programs […]