Waste disposal firm loses NHS contract after body parts pile-up
Health Minister Stephen Barclay has announced that Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) has been stripped of NHS contracts after hundreds of tonnes of waste from hospitals including human body parts was allowed to pile up at its facilities – including one in Nottingham.
NHS England memos leaked to the Health Service Journal showed that (HES) – which worked for to up to 50 NHS trusts – allowed amputated limbs, infectious liquids, refuse linked to cancer treatment and other hazardous materials to build up at its five waste handling sites.
Barclay told Parliament that HES, whose Nottingham waste disposal site is on the Queens Drive Industrial Estate, has “failed to demonstrate that they were operating within their contractual limits”.
He added: “Consequently, 15 NHS Trusts served termination notices to HES formally to terminate their contracts at 4pm on Sunday.”
Mitie has stepped in to pick up the contract, Barclay said.
Responding to the allegations earlier late last week and an investigation by the Environment Agency, HES said: “Our licenced sites store mainly clinical waste collected from the NHS in strict accordance with the Environment Agency regulations,” the company said.
It added: “We have welcomed visits from the EA a number of times over the past few months and have pointed out to them that the amount of waste produced by the NHS for incineration, far outweighs the entire incineration capabilities of the UK and not just Healthcare Environmental Services.”
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The Environment Agency has found Healthcare Environmental Services to be in breach of its environmental permits at sites which deal with clinical waste. We are taking enforcement action against the operator, which includes clearance of the excess waste, and have launched a criminal investigation.”
