Human body parts are among hundreds of tonnes of waste from聽鲍碍听丑辞蝉辫颈迟补濒蝉 which have been allowed to pile up by disposal company Healthcare Environment Services.聽The company聽 has been found to be in breach of its permits at five sites in England which deal with clinical waste and a criminal investigation has been launched.
The (HSJ) reported that amputated limbs and pharmaceutical waste were among the matter which had not been properly disposed of. But there is 鈥渁bsolutely no risk鈥� to public health, says the Department of Health and Social Care.
It is believed the waste was stored securely, but was not being processed and disposed of within the correct timeframes. A Cobra meeting was chaired by Matt Hancock, the聽UK鈥檚 health secretary,聽last month over the issue, the HSJ reported.
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Healthcare Environment Services said the UK had experienced 鈥渞educed incineration capacity鈥� over the last year, which it had repeatedly highlighted to authorities.
鈥淭his is down to the ageing infrastructure, prolonged breakdowns and the reliance on zero waste to landfill policies, taking up the limited high-temperature incineration capacity in the market. Over the last year, this reduced incineration capacity has been evident across all of the industry and has affected all companies,鈥� said the firm.
The Environment Agency聽said that it has found Healthcare Environmental Services to be in breach of its environmental permits at five location which deal with clinical waste. 鈥淲e are taking enforcement action against the operator, which includes clearance of the excess waste, and have launched a criminal investigation,鈥� said the government agency.
At one site in Normanton, West Yorkshire, excess waste levels reached 350 tonnes in September, the HSJ reported. This is five times more than the company鈥檚 70 tonne limit, and a small proportion of it is believed to have been human body parts. Up to 50 trusts have contracts with the company, the HSJ said, but they are not believed to be experiencing disruption to waste collection.
鈥淭he聽NHS聽has contingency plans in place for clinical waste and patients should be assured that their care will be unaffected,鈥� says聽Kathy McLean, at聽NHSImprovement, which oversees NHS trusts.
