Operation Womble launches at Derriford Hostpial

Operation Womble – a new way to deal with waste at Derriford Hospital – is being launched this week.

The first phase alone is expected to save our Trust almost £10,000.

Spearheaded by Michelle (Chelley) Winfield, senior sister and Clinical Procurement Manager and Kirsty Wavish, Facilities Programme Manager, Operation Womble will start on December 1 in the children’s theatres, orthopaedic theatres and the Sterilisation and Decontamination Unit (SDU). 

It will also rely on close involvement from the Trust’s newly created internal waste disposal team Derriford Waste Management Solutions (DWMS). It will largely involve better segregation of waste streams. 

This will mean significant savings by reducing incineration costs and allowing the DWMS team to generate income by selling a lot of the waste, including paper, wood, cardboard and plastic.

Chelley explained: “This is based on something that Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust did in their day case theatres at Torbay Hospital. They estimated that they saved £3,000 per theatre so if you take into account that we have 34 theatres, that’s a huge saving.

“Everyone has been really enthusiastic, especially after a tour of our on-site incinerator operated by DWMS, where we learned that the heat generated by incinerating our waste, is used to heat our hospital.” Benefits from targeted segregation will mean only hazardous waste will be incinerated, allowing more waste to be recycled. 

This will result in more cardboard and shredded paper etc being sold to generate revenue and wooden pallets taken away free of charge by a charity that uses them to build housing and furniture in developing countries.

Some metal items used or generated during operations will also be segregated where safe to do so and sold to a specialist company, generating further revenue for the Trust.

By reducing the amount of waste incinerated, there will be more capacity for the incinerator to accept hazardous waste from even more healthcare Trust’s, GP’s, dentists and local authorities, preventing the need for this hazardous waste to be sent long distances for disposal.

After the successful implementation of Phase 1, Phase 2 will see Operation Womble rolled out to the remaining theatres as well as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), ENT and Outpatients Departments.