NHS: Dangerous Waste and Body Parts Disposal

Baroness Tonge Excerpts

Wednesday 10th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord is quite right. There are, of course, contractual obligations; the point is that those obligations have not been fulfilled. That is one reason why the Environment Agency is now pursuing a criminal investigation against the firm.

[Baroness Tonge (Non-Afl)]

Will the Minister give us some information? Much clinical waste is highly infectious and therefore very dangerous; it needs to be incinerated very quickly. Will he tell us exactly how it is stored and where it is stored, and will he assure us that there is absolutely no danger of very infectious agents escaping into the surroundings?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Baroness is quite right to highlight this issue. As I said when repeating the Statement, the items that we are talking about are stored securely and I am assured that there is no risk to public health from the stockpiling. Clearly there is a requirement to dispose of them; this is a contractual obligation of the company, which it has not fulfilled. That is why we have entered into this situation.