Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Veolia Clinical Waste Collection
I am now in the 5th calendar month of trying to get a tiny box of sharps collected by Veolia. It has been an unbelievable saga where Peter doesn't talk to Paul. Firstly they told me I had to get a letter from the GP, the GP contacted them and were told that it wasn't necessary as my address had already been registered. So I call up to book the collection and am told again that I need to get the GP to send a letter. The GP does so, reluctantly, by email as requested. The email is then lost (by Haringey or Veolia I am not sure) and so it goes on. Eventually the address is registered and a collection is booked. This is after about 2 months.
Veolia turn up to collect but oh no they cannot collect the shaps' bin as the lid is purple and not yellow and leave it behind. The shaps' bin was provided on prescription by a local pharmacy and is now sealed so I cannot get the needles out. For the past 3 weeks I have been promised that they would make an exception and accept the purple lid and that the bins would be collected "tomorrow", "within a week" etc. But so far we still have a purple lid'ed sharps bin.
Apart from the moan I would like to know whether anyone else has come across this in relation to medical waste and also any suggestions of what can be done. I have repeatedly asked to escalate but just receive apologies from the admin. If this service is so useless it could lead to quite dangerous dumping of medical waste.
Tags for Forum Posts: veolia
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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What a pain.
I work in waste management and it's true that clinical waste should always be in yellow containers, to make it easily recognisable as clinical waste. I'm not sure why the pharmacy gave you a purple bin.
I'm afraid I have no suggestions for you though.
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte on
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The box is yellow, clearly marked as clinical waste. I guess fhe supplier may be different since ut has purple on the lid but everything else is the same. Seems completely nuts that it is so difficult to dispose of clinical waste.
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Our saga continues. I finally spoke to someone at Veolia (I think) and explained it all again again ... and made it very clear we just wanted collection and no bins and certainly not the large bins they hand out as they would take years to fill. My son came home to find that the two bins which had been tucked away behind the bins had been moved to our door step (not collected) and on top of that they had left 2 x 5 liter bins. The teenager was very upset by this which I completely understand. The incompetence at Haringey / Veolio beggars belief. Despite having asked many times to speak to someone in charge nothing has happened. We have now tried for 5 months to get the two tiny bins with sharps collected. I have filed a complaint now but I would be surprised if that made a difference, but it seems to me that they are encouraging dumping!? Can't imagine someone with poor English, poor health or substance abuse going through this saga. Could one sue Haringey for negligence? Surely other people will give up and put in the normal bins?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Can I suggest, Charlotte, that you email Steve McDonnell the Assistant Director whose remit covers waste management. Stephen.McDonnell@haringey.gov.uk
While your having to store the clinical sharps is a nuisance it's not hazardous. But the wider issues you raise make it extremely worrying if the system is not functioning well. For public health reasons it must be made to work properly. And in any case my assumption is: 'better safe than sorry'.
For that reason you might also want to consider copying in your three ward councillors. You'll find their names and emails on Haringey's website. Plus Cllr Stuart McNamara the "cabinet" councillor whose remit includes waste; and Cllr Peter Morton the "cabinet" councillor for health. (Stuart.Mcnamara@haringey.gov.uk and Peter.Morton@haringey.gov.uk)
Lastly, I'd suggest adding Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy, Director of Public Health for Haringey. I don't know her email but you could tweet her and ask. @Jeanelleuk
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Hurrah after nearly 7 months and after filing a formal complaint our sharps bin got collected. This was a long saga.
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That's good news, Charlotte. But leaves open the questions of what went wrong with the system? Have they fixed the problem? Have they learned anything? Plus of course whether or not you got an apology.
Were any of the three ward councillors able to help? Or show any interest?
Incidentally, both Cllr Stuart McNamara and Cllr Peter Morton have stood down/been stood down from the "cabinet". The new cabinet members appointed by the Dear Leader are voted through at the Council's AGM.
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