Millions of disposable cups used by Black Country hospitals
Hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire purchased millions of disposable cups over the last five years, new figures show.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests showed that NHS trusts in the West Midlands had bought millions of cups since 2013, amid rising concern over the environmental impact of single-use throwaway items.
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, ordered nearly four million during that period.
The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Stafford’s County Hospital, purchased three times that amount, bringing in 14.7 million cups.
Figures from Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Russells Hall, showed it received 62,925 cups – but this does not include cups purchased through the trust’s PFI partner.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, ordered 10.1 million.
Figures from other Black Country trusts were not available.
At one London trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’, almost 30 million cups were bought over a five-year period, with 6.2 million purchased in one year alone.
Greenpeace UK said the figures demonstrate ‘just how out of control our relationship with single-use plastic has become’.
Plastic, foam and paper cups have become entrenched in NHS procurement.
Cups are used across the health service from waiting rooms to wards.
Disposable cups are purchased across the NHS for hot drinks, cold drinks and dispensing medicines.
While some can be readily recycled others are considerably harder to recycle – such as plastic-lined coffee cups or polystyrene.
In some settings there will be clinical reasons behind the use of single use cups – such as avoiding the use of glass in some mental health wards.
Earlier this year England’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, called on the NHS – as one of the world’s largest employers – to cut its pollutant footprint.
A number of hospitals have re-introduced china cups to their wards to reduce the number of disposable cups while others have made significant pledges to reduce the use of single use plastic and paper cups.
Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “
In the last five years the health service has used half a billion disposable cups – they can’t all be captured and recycled, so it’s time for the Government to step in and help suppliers find viable solutions.”
