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Posted By stephen williamson
Does anybody else in the world of healthcare share our worries about the new HTM-07-01 guidance re the above? We foresee any saving on minimisation of clinical waste being offset many times over by the difficulties of establishing multiple sharps streams and the new offensive waste stream into a crowded hospital, and re-training 5k plus staff to differentiate between them in the theatre or at the bedside. If you think it can be done, tell me how. Already had the first mailshot from bin providers offering to help me ! !
Cheers,
Steve
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Posted By Jenny R Harris
I just searched the forum to see if anyone else is wondering how the heck to re-programme our care workers out of using the phrase clinical waste and into infectious/ offensive/ etc. etc.
I appreciate your concerns, ours are on a much smaller scale, within the realm of Care Homes. The range of wastes we need to segregate is more limited than yours, but we also have the space problems. My main concerns are the re-programming of the staff who will be doing the segregation at point of production and the fact we don't have the joy of an in-house healthcare professional to make the call on whether something is infectious or offensive.
I, as of yet, have not received any literature on bins etc. but anticipate it arriving via our waste contractors any day now... at a price no doubt.
If anyone out there has come across any sector specific guidance on the HTM for Care Homes can you let me know please? I have searched CSCI and the National Care Forum.
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Posted By J Knight
Hi Folks,
I went to the IOSH Healthcare SG meeting in the summer where this was trailed by somebody from the NHS. The way they were putting it the new drive to segregate is actually designed to save money; the assumption is that the cost of disposing of hazardous waste is already rising rapidly and will continue to do so, so the costs of segregating out hazardous and offensive will be more than covered by the fact that it should be very much cheaper to dispose of offensive waste. The presented talked about a PCT in London which is reportedly saving 19K at current prices by segregation; this differential saving will rise in future.
Me, I'm not convinced, we also operate premises much smaller than NHS hospitals, and we have additional problem with segregation. If we separate out offensive from infectious wastes we either end up with bags that hang around for ages before filling up (this smells, which is very bad news) or we consign part-filled bags for collection, and since we pay by the bag we will thereby incur increased costs.
Its a bit of a poser really. And what do other dispersed organisations intend to do about the 'waste manager' mentioned in the guidance? Do you take this to mean a corporate function, a site based one or both?
John
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Posted By Nigel Lumb
Hi Steve
Not strictly compliant with the GUIDANCE but designate each Ward or Dept to one group / type of clinical waste (excluding sharps) and then hope for the best !
Hope this helps
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Posted By Dave B
I'm a bit in the dark here. Where can I find info on these new requirements?
Thanks
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Posted By Ian Blenkharn We have had many spirited, but perhaps predictably largely negative, comments on this crazy documentation HTM 07-01 on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum at http://www.ianblenkharn.com. Other comments will be very welcome. Of interest is that the guidance it offers is not obligatory and does not constitute an ACoP. But one or two individuals at the Environment Agency are seeking to reference this new guide into the text of waste management licenses. This effectively raises the status of the document as a pseudo-ACoP by a procedure that seems particularly underhand. It seems that the document was ghost written largely for their benefit, and to support their ideological waste management plans that are unsupported by research evidence. It certainly offers little for healthcare providers, other than confusion, the introduction of substantial further complexity, and massive cost increases for waste producers. Ian
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Posted By Dave B
Thanks, John
As a waste disposal contractor this is a potential nightmare.
Dave
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Posted By Ian Blenkharn
I hear that EA is intending to write into future licences a need for compliance with the schemata outlined in this guide, that otherwise nas no status as an ACoP.
Thus, it becomes an ACoP by the back door.
If that is true, and it would not surprise me if it were, then it is clearly an underhand and unworthy tactic that deserves wide condemnation
Ian Blenkharn
Clinical Waste Discussion Forum
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Posted By J Knight
Ian,
This would certainly be an unwelcome development; can you say where you hear this from, and speculate on how likely it is to happen?
John
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Posted By Ian Blenkharn
It would be unfair to reveal the identity of the third party who told me this, though I have no doubt of the integrity and honesty of that individual, who repeated to me what had been said by a senior EA official.
It is of particular concern that this strategy was presented as a standard manoeuver to achieve this type of back-door legislation. Personnally, I have no experience of it happening elsewhere, but what about everyone else?
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Posted By W Nahste
I, unlike many repeated writers on various clinical waste forums, am extremely positive about the implementation of a new approach to healthcare waste. I also experience significant change is needed and welcomed by other facility users.
It is only once you have unwrapped all facets of all waste streams and have begun to change the waste management culture of the hospital users (staff and visitors)for all these waste streams, can you expect to benefit. This process has to start and it has to be a noticeable change, different, to almost break the old habitual ways. The new HTM guidance suits that purpose well.
Hospital Waste systems are people driven and if the people are provided with new knowledge and interest, a new sense of ownership, then they will take part.
I see staff who are genuinely responding well to the change and many are interested to assist the drive to minimise costs and environmental impact.
Space is an issue that can be overcome... there is no more waste its just packaged different!
Polcicies must be updated and battles must be won. This war is enevitable, bring it on!
As the recent bird flu outbreak shows, as long as the gulls dont get to the waste you doing ok!
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Posted By Clairey O
As my experience already tells me, why make something more complicated, when it doesn't work at present.
The new changes will only seek to bring be about more chaos and non conforming waste that will only put the waste collectors and porters in greater danger. By having greater choice for disposal routes you are multiplying the opportunities for errors to occur.
How can I quantify such a statement - well I have the privileged position (well some may say!?!?) of seeing how this type of waste is often inappropriately packaged and segregated, and then trying to work with producers to rectify this.
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