Ad with a better commercial area of focus the average net cost of clinical waste management could be reduced by 15% per tonne of waste by 2030, the strategy says.
The overall potential savings were highlighted by the NHS England’s director of estates and head of profession, Simon Corben, in a foreword to a document introducing the strategy published yesterday (7 March).
According to Mr Corben, by implementing the strategy over the next ten years, the estimated savings of £11 million per annum can be made in recurrent revenue costs, with the 30% reduction on carbon emissions set to help the transition to net zero.
Mr Corben outlined that it could also help reduce the environmental impact of the approximately 156,000 tonnes of clinical waste produced annually. This is because this type of waste is either sent to high temperature incineration (HTI) or for alternative treatment (AT) and therefore comes with high running costs as well as carbon emissions.
Clinical waste
The document explained that clinical waste is categorised according to its hazardous properties and associated treatment and disposal requirements. It said that waste that poses the highest risk to the environment or human health needs to be treated using HTI. Waste which poses a lower risk, even if derived from patients with known infections, can be treated using AT methods such as sterilisation, it continued.
The document then noted that offensive waste (OW) is different to clinical as it has no hazardous properties and can be treated in a similar manner to municipal waste.
According to the document, the total clinical waste, combined with OW, is expected to increase at a growth rate of 3% per annum, reaching an estimated 200,000 tonnes in 2029/30. It added that this growth assumption does not account for the impact of increased waste generation from the pandemic.
Key areas
The clinical waste strategy has been created with an aim to support NHS providers in making the “necessary” step change in NHS’ waste management practices, Mr Corben explained. It is also set to help reach the NHS targets of net zero for direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2040 and 2045 respectively.
The document identified six key areas of focus, which included data, workforce, compliance, commercials, infrastructure and sustainability, with a ‘strategic priority’, ‘key performance indicators’ and a ‘measure of success’ assigned to each.
And, more attention is to be paid to market provision and contracts. Among the proposals are:
- Support the development of a framework of standard waste service contracts that are appropriate for the key requirements for each type of NHS providers, including
infrastructure and equipment provision, standard service specifications, performance framework, payment mechanism, KPIs, and contingency planning. - Define the principles and minimum requirements for contract governance and reporting for all NHS providers, including a process for risk escalation and duty of care/compliance issues.
- Establish and maintain a standard contract management database for all NHS providers, which interfaces with procurement systems and provides transparency at a national level.
- Introduce a mechanism for monitoring the provision and capacity of clinical waste treatment, to mitigate clinical waste market price volatility and prevent disproportionate price increases.
- Maintain an up-to-date market analysis.
Data
The area of data calls for NHS providers to regularly report all clinical waste they generate with a minimum of 95% accuracy by 2024. On the workforce front, NHS seeks for 100% all of its trusts as well as foundation trusts to have a dedicated waste manager role by 2023, funded from their own resources. And, 100% of other NHS providers are to have identified individuals accountable for waste management.
In terms of compliance, the NHS set clinical waste segregation targets for its providers of 20:20:60 HTI, AT and OW by 2026.
When it comes to sustainability, the NHS has set a target to achieve a 50% reduction in the carbon emissions produced from waste management by 2026, with an 80% reduction by 2028-32.
The document noted that NHS England will review progress annually, evaluating system performance against national waste and carbon reduction targets, key performance indicators and measures of success.
Useful link
NHS clinical waste strategy
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