The Sharpsmart Difference – In the Words of Our NHS Partners

Choosing a partner for NHS clinical waste management is not a decision to be taken lightly, and there’s far more to consider than just bins and collections.

Sharps safety, regulatory compliance, sustainability targets and financial pressures all sit at the centre of the conversation – getting any of these wrong can have serious consequences for staff, patients, and the organisation as a whole.

Sharpsmart has worked in close partnership with the NHS for more than two decades, across acute, specialist and community settings and in that time, the feedback we’ve heard has been strikingly consistent.

Rather than list every case study we have, this blog reflects on the past couple of years from north to south, from Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, highlighting what our NHS partners have said makes the Sharpsmart Difference – and why that difference matters in practice.

TOPICS WE WILL COVER:

1 / “We needed to reduce risk, not just change containers.”

2 / “We needed more than collection, we needed a partner on site.”

3 / “We reduced carbon and costs without cutting corners.”

4 / “We gave time and space back to frontline teams.”

5 / “We experienced support that doesn’t stop after installation.”

6 / The Sharpsmart Difference According to the NHS

7 / Do You Want to Experience the Sharpsmart Difference?

“We needed to reduce risk, not just change containers.”

For many of our NHS partners, sustainability and costs weren’t the starting point of their search for new solutions – it was safety and compliance.

Needlestick injuries, poorly closed single-use sharps containers, non-conformances and audit failures all present real clinical and financial risk. Several of our NHS partners came to Sharpsmart after reaching a tipping point where existing systems were no longer fit for purpose.

At Whiston Hospital, internal audits revealed widespread non-compliance linked to single-use sharps containers, alongside a growing number of needlestick injury (NSI) claims.

“Since the installation of Sharpsmart reusables at Whiston Hospital, sharps waste spillage is no longer a problem, and the risk of needlestick injury has been reduced by over 85%.””

Brian Jones – Assistant Portering and Logistics Manager, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Similarly, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust was dealing with a high number of NSIs, poor segregation and limited sharps containment at the point of care.

“Sharps safety has been improved across the Trust with 20 fewer needlestick injuries reported than last year.”

Deborah Cockroft, Waste Manager, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 

These two Trusts shared a common need, and it wasn’t as simple as getting a different bin – they needed a safety-engineered sharps waste solution that removed all of the common failure points and design flaws, supported compliance with RCN Sharps Safety Guidance, HTM 07-01, and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, and reduced risk across the entire sharps lifecycle.

“We needed more than collection, we needed a partner on site.”

Another theme that emerged clearly across every case study was the importance of on-site support – a true partnership.

Many Trusts told us that they had previously felt like waste providers left them to navigate challenges and issues alone. In contrast, Sharpsmart’s ‘Inside the Four Walls’ approach places waste expertise directly within the clinical environment, working alongside healthcare staff to drive better outcomes.

A simple query about tooth disposal from staff at County Hospital quickly expanded into a Trust-wide improvement programme built through on-site audits and backed with staff engagement.

“Gabor from Sharpsmart’s guidance on changing our waste stream… has made a big difference in improving our processes and sustainability while ensuring compliance and best practice.”

Helen Glover, Dental Nurse and SWITCH Champion – Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery/Orthodontic Department, County Hospital

At Fairfield General Hospital, the theatre department faced persistent non-conformances driven by unclear signage, limited segregation knowledge and inconsistent practices.

“With Sharpsmart’s expertise and guidance, we’ve achieved significant improvements in our waste management… the engagement of the whole team has enabled our success.”

Karen Ellis – Practice-Based Educator, Fairfield General Hospital   

Across acute, community and specialist Trusts, the message was the same: having people on site who understand healthcare waste and healthcare environments improves outcomes.

“We reduced carbon and costs, without cutting corners.”

With Net Zero targets fast approaching, sustainability is no longer optional for NHS organisations, but many Trusts have expressed their concerns about balancing carbon reduction with safety and compliance.

The reality uncovered through auditing was often significant overtreatment of waste – particularly the overuse of orange infectious waste streams – driving both cost and carbon on an unnecessary upward trajectory.

At Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the absence of offensive waste segregation made achieving the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy’s 20-20-60 waste split target feel unrealistic.

“We have successfully met the goals and implemented the offensive waste stream across the Trust… the Trust has also trialled Sharpsmart’s reusable containers to further reduce CO2e and plastic.”

Louise Hibbs – Estates Transactional Lead, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust achieved a dramatic turnaround in under a year.

“The Trust has achieved a diversion of over 60% of waste away from carbon-intensive treatment in under a year.”

Deborah Cockroft, Waste Manager, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

At Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, sustainability improvements were delivered alongside service reliability and regulatory confidence.

“They’ve helped us reach our 20-20-60 target as per the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy and made the whole process far more efficient.”

Megan Bradford and Monique Bradford – Facilities Management, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

These outcomes weren’t achieved through blanket changes or shortcuts, but through bespoke, clinically appropriate segregation, education and reusable containment solutions, implemented in line with HTM 07-01 regulations.

“We gave time and space back to frontline teams.”

Operational efficiency is often an overlooked benefit of better waste management – but it’s one of the most keenly felt by clinical and estates teams.

At Royal Oldham Hospital, inefficiencies linked to sharps container availability, incorrect placement and exchange frequency were quietly draining clinical time.

“By introducing reusables and the offensive waste stream… we’ve freed up over 120 hours of clinical time annually – that’s time that goes straight back into patient care.”

Paul Corr – Group Head of Waste and Recycling, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

At Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, switching from single-use sharps bins reduced storage pressures, eliminated the need for emergency stockpiling, and significantly reduced the time required for container exchanges.

For Trusts under constant operational pressure, these gains matter – not as abstract efficiencies, but as tangible improvements to daily working conditions.

“We experienced support that doesn’t stop after installation.”

Perhaps the strongest signal of the Sharpsmart Difference comes from what our NHS partners say about ongoing support.

At Royal Oldham Hospital, a potential compliance issue with offensive waste threatened to exclude the Trust from Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) services – a change that would’ve increased transport costs by up to 50%.

“Through a close partnership… we’ve quickly resolved underlying segregation issues.”

Paul Corr – Group Head of Waste and Recycling, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

The issue was identified, investigated and resolved collaboratively – avoiding service disruption, protecting compliance and maintaining the Trust’s sustainability strategy.

At Whiston Hospital, long-term engagement reinforced trust and confidence.

“Sharpsmart is the most helpful and informative of all the waste companies we’ve worked with… they really do go the extra mile.”

Brian Jones – Assistant Portering and Logistics Manager, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Across Trusts, this continuity of support – audits, education, data analysis and responsiveness – consistently emerged as a defining factor.

The Sharpsmart Difference – According to the NHS

When our NHS partners talk about their experience with Sharpsmart, they’re rarely describing a product in isolation. They’re describing:

These are not theoretical benefits – they are outcomes delivered in real NHS environments, under real pressures. That’s the Sharpsmart Difference.

Do You Want to Experience the Sharpsmart Difference?

We understand that every NHS facility is different. But the challenges facing healthcare waste management – safety, compliance, carbon and cost – are remarkably consistent.

If your facility is reviewing its sharps or clinical waste strategy, the question isn’t simply one of containers, it’s:

The NHS partners featured in this blog didn’t set out to ‘change the bins’. They set out to solve real problems and discovered what a difference the right partnership can make.

If you’re considering what safer, more sustainable and more supported sharps management could look like in your facility, now may be the right time to explore what experiencing the Sharpsmart Difference could look like in practice.