§ 1. Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to encourage hospitals within the NHS to make arrangements for the incineration of their clinical waste in such a way as to avoid pollution of the environment in residential areas.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Tom Sackville)It is the Government's policy to ensure that all national health service hospitals comply with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
§ Mr. ShersbyIs my hon. Friend aware of the environmental and occupational risks that can be caused by the disposal of clinical waste by incinerators such as the one at Hillingdon hospital in my constituency? Is he aware of the report published by the British Medical Association only last week on 30 June? Will he consider the 132 desirability of earmarking resources for a national network of incinerators to dispose of clinical waste well away from residential areas?
§ Mr. SackvilleWe shall be studying that report with interest, as we do all the utterances of the BMA. In particular, I am fully aware of my hon. Friend's consistent representations on behalf of his constituents about the hospital incinerator. However, he must remember the advantages of on-site clinical waste incineration and must take that into account in any other environmental considerations.