Investigation on medical waste management in medical institutions in Hu-bei Province / 中国感染控制杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the situation of medical waste management in medical institutions of Hubei Prov-ince,and put forward the improvement strategies.Methods The questionnaires were designed according to the relevant standards,situation of medical waste management in 75 hospitals in Hubei Province was investigated by stratified sampling, 73 available questionnaires were got.Results The construction of medical waste management software and hardware in 73 hospitals were basically met the requirements of the standards,the qualified rates in organization and system management, classification and disposal of medical waste in departments were all >90%;83.56% (61/73)of the hospitals carried out the best environmental practice(BEP)for medical waste;application of more than 40 kinds of disposable medical devices and supplies were reduced;76.71% (56/73)of hospitals’soft infusion bags were collected and recycled by designated company;only 21.54%(14/65)of hospitals send pathological chemical waste liquid to hazardous waste disposal center;disposal ways of orthopedic stainless steel plates were different,56.16% (41/73 )of hospitals treated plates as medical waste,only 35.62%(26/73)of hospitals informed patients how to deal with it,and signed informed consent with patients. Conclusion Medical waste management in medical institutions in Hubei Province has been paid more and more attention, but for special categories of medical waste disposal,such as soft infusion bags(bottles),orthopedic stainless steel plates, and pathological chemical waste liquid,there are some problems,training still needs to be strengthened,the classification and disposal of medical waste needs to be standardized further.