Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides mainstream, community, and specialist care to around 155 locations (including home patients) across North West England for people living in areas including Halton, St. Helens, and Warrington.

Health Services at Wolves is the Trust’s largest site and has been trialling Sharpsmart reusable sharps containers at an organisational level.

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had never had on-site support or guidance for their healthcare waste management. Without the offensive waste stream in place and no segregation, no waste was being diverted away from carbon-intensive treatments.

Not only did this mean higher costs and a higher carbon footprint, but it also made the 20-20-60 waste split target an improbable achievement.

The Trust was also relying on single-use sharps containers across all sites – not only an unsustainable solution for sharps waste but departments throughout the Trust were flooded with overstocked spares consuming valuable space.

Sharpsmart reusable containers were rolled out site-wide alongside staff training on container usage, waste segregation, and best practices. Training was conducted using Sharpsmart’s blended learning approach of in-person face-to-face training, QR waste quizzes, and e-learning.

The Estates and Infection Prevention and Control teams were instrumental in the success of this waste management partnership with clinical staff trained to be able to train others, ensuring all staff are on the same page and up to date.

Educational materials including posters, clear signage and labelling were introduced throughout the Trust.

Regular site visits from Sharpsmart waste experts have been scheduled to keep the Trust on track with mutually agreed targets and KPIs, including the 20-20-60 waste split.

Any initial staff concerns about container sizes were quickly met with an improved service that optimises space and reduces staff labour – with much less space taken up by ‘emergency stock’ and a significantly reduced amount of time required for container changes, all staff have quickly noticed a difference and are happy with the efficiencies.

With in-depth training conducted across the site and everyone reached with the new process staff on site are pleased to be on the same page and with solid direction.

The organisational trial of Sharpsmart reusables has been a huge success. It’s awaiting final sign-off as the Trust looks to implement the system into other sites and areas under its care. By replacing single-use sharps with Sharpsmart reusables, the Trust has significantly reduced overall waste volumes.

Looking at the Trust’s offensive waste output over a year, the data shows they’ve achieved the 20-20-60 waste split target outlined in the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy, diverting the majority of waste away from carbon-intensive treatments.

July 2023:

• HTI 19.48
• AT 41.57
• Offensive 38.95

July 2024:

• HTI 13.65
• AT 25.86
• Offensive 60.49

The high volume of metal waste being generated is now successfully being diverted into metal recycling accounting for around 50% of their total output.

Jan-Aug Savings:

• Plastic – 56.1kg / Annual Expectation – 84.15kg
• CO₂e – 317.1894kg / Annual Expectation – 474.7841kg
• Metal Recycling Waste – 39.86kg / Annual Expectation – 59.79kg