Subscribe
Logo small
Search

Disturbing results of NIK audit. Medical waste out of control

MedExpress Team

Medexpress

Published Nov. 24, 2023 13:45

Disturbing results of NIK audit. Medical waste out of control - Header image
fot. Materiał urzędowy Najwyższej Izby Kontroli
The Supreme Audit Office negatively assessed the handling of infectious medical waste, including that generated in connection with COVID-19, in 2019-2022 (Q1). During the audit period, it was stored, received and managed in contravention of regulations. Neither hospitals nor public administration authorities exercised effective supervision over the management of infectious medical waste.

According to a 2014 European Commission regulation, infectious medical waste is that which contains live microorganisms or their toxins, potentially capable of causing disease in humans or other living organisms. However, the criteria for determining the infectious property of waste are set for their own use by individual EU member states. In Poland, "infectivity" of waste is defined by the 2019 Regulation of the Minister of Climate on the conditions for recognizing waste as having infectious properties and the manner of determining such properties.

The Supreme Audit Institution decided to check whether there had been improvements in the area of handling infectious medical waste in recent years (an audit by the Supreme Audit Institution in 2014 ended with a negative assessment).

In almost half of the hospitals inspected, supervision of the handling of infectious medical waste was inadequate. In 6 of the 13 hospitals inspected, no person or organizational unit responsible for supervising the handling of infectious medical waste, including that generated in connectio...

Content locked

To gain access to the complete English section of the Medexpress.pl, kindly reach out to us at [email protected].

If you already have an account, please log in

Szukaj nowych pracowników

Dodaj ogłoszenie już za 4 zł dziennie*.

* 4 zł netto dziennie. Minimalny okres ekspozycji ogłoszenia to 30 dni.

Read also