Cromwell Hospital has become the first private hospital in the UK to sign a five-year contract with SageTech Medical, enabling it to capture and recycle waste anaesthetic gases, preventing them from polluting the atmosphere.
The new five-year contract means that SageTech Medical will be providing 10 of its innovative SID-Dock devices into theatres at Cromwell Hospital.
It is estimated that without the device, over 160 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (t/CO2e) would be produced each year across the hospital’s operating theatres, which is the same as driving 720,000 miles in a petrol car.
Capture and reuse
Anaesthetic gases are vital for putting patients to sleep for operations, but they cause significant harm to the environment, with 95% being released to the atmosphere unused as waste gas.
The SID-Dock fits easily and safely into hospital operating theatres, without having to make changes to existing equipment.
And it works by capturing the waste anaesthetic breathed out by a patient during an operation, which is safely stored in canisters.
At Bupa, we’re on a journey to meet our net zero targets and partnering with sustainable start-ups that come through our eco-Disruptive programme allows us to reduce our impact on the environment, adopt new technologies, and make healthcare more sustainable for the future
When the canisters are full, SageTech takes them to its processing facility where the captured anaesthetic is purified and recycled back into pharmaceuticals, ready to be used again by hospitals.
The partnership between Cromwell Hospital, part of Bupa, and SageTech Medical follows a successful two-month trial earlier this year.
Sarah Melia, general manager for Bupa Health Services, said: “I am incredibly proud that Cromwell Hospital has partnered with SageTech Medical to capture and recycle waste anaesthetic gases within our theatres.
“The trial was eye opening and showed us just how much we can reduce our carbon emissions.
A net-zero journey
“At Bupa, we’re on a journey to meet our net zero targets and partnering with sustainable start-ups that come through our eco-Disruptive programme, like SageTech Medical have, allows us to reduce our impact on the environment, adopt new technologies, and make healthcare more sustainable for the future.”
Iain Menneer, SageTech Medical chief executive, added: “We are delighted that Cromwell Hospital has signed a five-year contract with us to help advance its sustainability agenda and provide our pioneering SID-Dock device into its theatres.
“The device makes a huge difference to its carbon emissions and the amount of waste anaesthetic gases being released into the atmosphere.”
We want to drive innovation and sustainability in healthcare for better outcomes for people and planet health and working with start-ups allows us to access new solutions that will make healthcare better
SageTech Medical was one of six start-ups that made it through to the global final of the 2022 Bupa eco-Disruptive programme, which sees Bupa employees partner with sustainability star -ups to tackle environmental challenges within the healthcare sector.
Anna Russell, sustainability director for Bupa Global and UK, said: “It’s wonderful to see this partnership between Cromwell Hospital and SageTech Medical grow after a successful trial.
“It’s imperative that we are taking these steps to reduce our carbon footprint and recycling anaesthetic waste gases is an essential part of this.
“We want to drive innovation and sustainability in healthcare for better outcomes for people and planet health and working with start-ups allows us to access new solutions that will make healthcare better.
“We’ve just launched our eco-Disruptive programme for 2023 and can’t wait to see how eco start-ups inspire us again this year to move us towards our sustainability targets.”