John Leech MP calls for real nappies in our hospitals
10.04.00am GMT Sat 15th Mar 2008
The disposal of clinical waste, including disposable nappies, costs the NHS over £34 million each year.
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John Leech, Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, has written to South Manchester's hospital chiefs to call for cloth nappies to be available for new parents.
At present, maternity wards at the MRI and Wythenshawe Hospital only have disposable nappies available to give to the parents of newborns, but John Leech says that they could be saving money and helping the environment by having washable, cloth nappies as well.
John Leech said:
"The disposal of clinical waste, including disposable nappies, costs the NHS over £34 million each year. Evidence from the Isle of Man, where cloth nappies were introduced to the hospital in 2005, shows that clinical waste from the maternity unit has been reduced by 83%.
"In addition, the number of parents using cloth nappies after they have gone home has risen threefold, which means that waste going to landfill has been reduced as well.
"This is not about dictating to parents about what sort of nappies they should use, but about giving them the experience of cloth nappies so that they can decide to use them at home if they want to. This helps the environment and saves the NHS and local councils money, too."
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