Clinical Waste Disposal 

Read the illustrated guide to clinical waste on ClinicalSkills.net here: 

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Infection Prevention and Control (including Clinical Waste)

Within practice many elements of health care provision produce waste. Correct management and disposal of waste reduces risk to staff and patients, reduces risk of infection and provides and promotes a therapeutic environment. Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must be worn when handling waste.

Not all waste producing processes occur in healthcare facilities. Community based clinicians, non clinical care provision and patient managed conditions can produce clinical grade waste which also requires appropriate management. Certain clinical areas may have extra precautions in place to reduce the risk of cross contamination, for example regional specialist Infectious Disease centres or wards.

Waste produced in healthcare comes in many different forms and each type of waste has its own appropriate disposal method. Certain types of waste, for example sharps, must be disposed of in clinically appropriate receptacles such as sharps bins. Note that ONLY sharps should be disposed of in sharps bins. All other items including paper towels, packaging, gauze, gloves and any other materials should be disposed of in clinical waste bins (or other appropriate waste stream). For further information on sharps safety and disposal please visit the Sharps Safety page. To make the process easier different waste disposal options are colour coded as below.

Clean, used and soiled linen also requires correct management and handling. Linen that has been exposed to certain infections must be sealed in special water soluble bags before being deposited into used linen receptacles. 

To prevent cross contamination clinical and non clinical areas are cleaned using colour coded cloths, mops, buckets and disposables. 

It is your responsibility to ensure you are familiar with the waste disposal process as part of your placement familiarisation and the Trust policies for waste management. 

Click on the button below to navigate to the 'Take a Test' area of ClinicalSkills.net. Please make sure you're logged into ClinicalSkills.net already, otherwise you may not be able to open and take the test. Once you have reached the 'Take a Test' area, select 'Local Tests' and then click on the test called 'Clinical Waste Disposal' to begin. You will need to score 80% or more to pass. Make sure you've read the ClinicalSkills.net procedure thoroughly before taking the test as many of the answers will be found within there!

Watch this space quiz coming soon...........

Clinical Waste (Environmental Agency): 

www.gov.uk/government/publications/clinical-waste-additional-guidance

Waste Matters: Saving money and the environment:

www.eoecph.nhs.uk/Files/Sustainability/WasteMatters-HowYourTrustCanSaveMoney.pdf#:~:text=Cost%20Disposal%20Costs%20"%20Incineration%20%28Yellow%2FPurple%29%20£500-£1000%2B%20per,run%20into%20£1000s%20or%20imprisonment%20in%20extreme%20cases?msclkid=01af712fc18611ec9b795dca3f92f281 

Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures (9th Edition): Management of Waste in the health care environment: Page cxix- cxxii

ProQuest Ebook Central - Reader 

Date reviewed: 

Next review: August 2023