The Panel are to receive the Clinical Waste Report.
Contact:N Sloper 388635 / A Rogan 388082
Minutes:
Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Operations to which was attached a report by the Recycling and Waste Operations Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on alternative options for the collection and disposal of clinical waste and the potential likely financial impact.
Members were acquainted with details of the current arrangements for the collection of household clinical waste with a low volume of weekly collections currently at only 13 and proposals for changes being implemented by NHS England impacting on local authorities to be responsible for the collection of sharps from all self-medicating home patients from 1st April 2019 as the Waste Collection Authorities.
The Head of Operations explained to Members the difficulty of identifying the potential financial impact of these changes on the Council due to the lack of availability of information from NHS England on the frequency of collections. As a result, it was reported that it may be necessary to submit an unavoidable growth bid once the actual likely impact had been identified, with potential costs to the authority identified at an estimated £50k. It was therefore proposed to replicate the current NHS England Model, with local pharmacies being paid to act as a disposal point for clinical waste.
Arising from a question from Councillor K I Prentice on confirmation that the pharmacies were ready for implementation from 1st April 2019 and whether the authority could meet the requirements of the proposed changes, the Head of Operations explained that the Council had been working with the Local Pharmacy Commission (LPC) and confirmed that a contractor was in place for collection of the materials and was confident that the Council could meet the timescales identified. It was further noted that the pharmacies had been frustrated by the lack of communications on the timescales, with further possibility that the implementation date may be moved to 1st September 2019.
In response to a question from Councillor S J Criswell on the financial risk to the authority, it was explained that the service would continue to be operated free to the customer, with the potential to offer a hybrid solution to offer at cost to the customer for a household collection or free due to the nature of the medical condition.
Councillor S Bywater raised a question in relation to communication for the existing customers, whereby Members were informed that the Council had been working closely with NHS England to deliver a communications strategy and was likely to have minimal impact on the customer as there would be effectively little change to the current arrangements of a pharmacy collection model. It was also noted that there would continue to be provision for those customers who required a household collection service of clinical waste.
Arising from a question posed by Councillor Prentice on progress with the timetable for implementation as identified in the report, Members were informed that a draft agreement had been reached with the pharmacies and the contract for collection was in place, thereby ensuring that when NHS England confirmed the definite date of handover the Council could continue to offer a service with minimal impact to the customer.
Discussion ensued and further questions from Members on the risks associated with leaving sharps boxes on the doorstep and methods available to mitigate these risks. In light of the inability to identify the likely frequency of household collections, Members discussed the likely modelling options for recommendation, whereupon it was
RESOLVED
(a) that the Cabinet be requested to consider the implementation of a pharmacy based solution based on the current NHS England Model and further review implementing the charged household collection at a later date when required to do so by legislation; and
(b) that a report be presented to the Panel in September 2019 on progress with implementation of the clinical waste collection service and any further financial implications for the service.
Supporting documents: