Background

Significant disruptions caused by COVID-19 seemed to affect implementation of sustainable healthcare waste management (SHCWM) within healthcare facilities. Considering that the NHS targets to reach net zero carbon by 2040, disruptions such as these provide significant setbacks. This project therefore focuses on sustainable healthcare waste management within the NHS and aims to produce an adaptable implementation assessment tool for sustainable healthcare waste management that can respond adequately to changing conditions and challenges while retaining high quality of patient care.

Approach

This project will examine current healthcare waste management (HCWM) practices as well as perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of staff towards sustainable healthcare waste management (SHCWM) implementation, and parameters for assessing safe SHCWM in two NHS Trusts in North West England.

The study will use a sequential mixed methods approach, which will include qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data will be obtained through interviews with heads of departments/wards responsible for HCWM in the case study hospitals. The project will explore current HCWM practices, identify SHCWM initiatives/approaches and identify parameters for SHCWM implementation, and through onsite observation and documentation of waste management practices, waste quantification and bin analysis. This will be followed by a survey of hospital staff directly and indirectly involved with waste generation to examine knowledge, behaviour, attitudes towards SHCWM implementation, and parameters for SHCWM implementation.