Body parts stockpiled in secret by NHS firm

Amputated limbs and medical waste stored across country as incinerator company ‘too busy’ to handle them

HUNDREDS of tons of human body parts and medical waste from hospitals are being secretly stockpiled across the country.

The crisis has come about after an incinerator firm contracted to burn hospital waste reportedly took on too much work.

Instead of burning the material – which includes amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment – it has been stockpiling it at five sites across England.

The Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee three weeks ago to discuss what to do with the growing volume of waste.

The Environment Agency has begun a criminal investigation, saying that the firm has breached its environmental permits at five sites that deal with clinical waste.

Hospitals have been warned they may need to start storing their waste on site, in specialist trailers provided by the Government, rather than sending it away to the troubled firm. The Department of Health and Social Care insisted the waste would not pose a threat to patients or the wider public, adding that contingency plans were being put in place.

But Labour questioned why Mr Hancock had failed to inform the public of the situation last month when he first became aware of it.

Most hospitals in the UK have contracts with incineration firms to collect and dispose of their clinical waste rather than doing it themselves on site.

The material includes body parts from operations and amputations, old drugs – which can be hazardous – and used equipment.

The company at the centre of the crisis – the Healthcare Environmental Group – has contracts with 50 NHS trusts including Leeds Teaching Hospitals, one of the largest in England.

But NHS sources said the company had taken on too much work and was not able to dispose of the waste in a timely manner.

At one of its sites in Normanton, West Yorkshire, more than 350 tonnes of waste including body parts had built up last month.

This was five times higher than the site’s limit and it has since been placed in fridges, according to the Health Service Journal.

Other affected hospital trusts include Barking, Havering and Redbridge in Essex, Calderdale and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s health and social care spokesman, said: ‘These are staggering revelations and given the number of NHS trusts involved, along with wider environmental health implications, I’m disappointed the Health Secretary didn’t inform Parliament last month.

‘We need a statement in the Commons next week from ministers detailing when the Government was first informed of this stockpiling, what support is now available to trusts and what contingency plans are in place for the future.’

Liberal Democrat environmental spokesman Tim Farron said: ‘Clearly the Government is failing to provide adequate infrastructure for waste, creating deep environmental concerns.’

A health department spokesman said: ‘There is absolutely no risk to the health of patients or the wider public. We are monitoring the situation closely and have made sure that public services – including NHS trusts – have contingency plans in place.’

An Environment Agency spokesman said: ‘The agency has found Health Environmental Services to be in breach of its environmental permits at five sites that 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. We are supporting the Government and the NHS to ensure there is no disruption to public services.’

A spokesman for the company said: ‘Healthcare Environmental has highlighted the reduction in the UK’s high-temperature incineration capacity for the last few years.

‘This 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.’