Published on 09 November 2023
Benenden Hospital is delighted to announce that it has become the first independent private hospital in the UK to integrate a groundbreaking system to capture and recycle volatile anaesthetic gas in its operating theatres.
How does anaesthetic gas recycling work?
Developed by Devon-based environmental medical device company SageTech Medical, the ‘SID-Dock’ captures waste anaesthetic gases breathed out by a patient onto specially developed filters contained inside two reusable capture canisters (‘SID-Cans’), preventing them from polluting the environment. The captured gases are then recovered and recycled at regional SID-Hub facilities, ready for future reuse.
Working with SageTech Medical to reduce our carbon footprint
We’re proud to be the flagship hospital for SageTech Medical's innovative anaesthetic gas capture system to help reduce our environmental impact and improve the air quality in our Theatres. Together, we’re taking steps toward a cleaner, greener future.
Claire Harley
Benenden Hospital has been around for 118 years, and part and parcel of this is our willingness to stay current; to make sure that we're not standing still, and that we have a constant eye on continuous improvement and innovation.
Michelle Anderson
As part of our sustainability strategy, we focus on how we can reduce our environmental impact. In doing that, we were really surprised to learn that only 5% of anaesthetic gas is metabolised by the patient, leaving 95% being released into the atmosphere.
Now, since 10% of our direct carbon footprint comes from these gases, we're excited to learn about the SageTech solution.
Luke Rawlinson
SageTech Medical provide a unique circular economy capture and recycling solution to address the significant pollution caused from the manufacture and eventual release of volatile anaesthetic gases used to put patients to sleep for surgery
Simon Brooks
As soon as we decided to buy the SID docks, we had no problem integrating the system into our way of working.
I like the idea of the company's unique circular economy; recycling waste anaesthetic drugs that are currently polluting the atmosphere, treating and then reusing that drug after purification again and again - reducing the need for new manufactured anaesthetic drugs
Claire Harley
Partnering with SageTech has been a perfect fit. In common with Benenden, SageTech have a real passion for caring and making a difference. Their innovation and state-of-the-art technology to capture those volatile anaesthetic gases at source is ground-breaking.
Michelle Anderson
We now have this amazing system in all three of our operating theatres. Being the first independent private hospital to adopt their state-of-the-art technology, we are demonstrating our strong commitment to reducing our carbon emissions and achieving our sustainability goals.
Claire Harley
Now, we are immensely proud to be working with SageTech as their flagship hospital to showcase our commitment to both the environment and well-being and to promote the fantastic work that SageTech is doing in this space.
Anaesthetic gas and the environment
Inhalational anaesthetic gases are vital for putting patients to sleep for operations, but they come with a cost to the environment. During an operation, only 5% of volatile anaesthetic agents are absorbed and metabolised by the patient, leaving 95% to be exhaled and released into the atmosphere as waste1. The waste gases are greenhouse gases and are highly polluting to the atmosphere.
Benenden Hospital's commitment to carbon reduction
Preventing the release and environmental pollution caused by these gases is a priority for Benenden Hospital, in line with their carbon reduction targets.
As part of our sustainability strategy, we’ve paid particular focus to limiting the impact our hospital has on the environment. Working with a fantastic company such as SageTech to integrate their state-of-the-art technology underlines our commitment to carbon reduction. We’re immensely proud to be leading the way for sustainability in UK independent hospitals.
When implemented across the hospital, SageTech Medical’s volatile gas capture solution could prevent up to 370 tonnes of CO2e emissions being released into the atmosphere over the equipment's lifetime.
Luke Rawlinson, SageTech Medical's Head of Commercial said:
"The Benenden Hospital team have been great to work with and have taken decisive action to reduce pollution from anaesthetic gases with our capture technology. This supports Benenden Hospital's strategic goals on sustainability, and we are pleased to have been selected as the partner of choice."
The manufacture of virgin anaesthetic agents and their release as potent greenhouse gases contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of healthcare. Once exhaled into the atmosphere, waste volatile anaesthetics stay around for a long time and subsequently have high global warming potentials. These gases cause climate change by trapping heat, and they also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution.
Simon Brooks, Benenden Hospital’s Anaesthetics and Recovery Clinical Lead, said:
“This leading-edge technology has been integrated seamlessly into our existing anaesthetic equipment. We’re very grateful to the wonderful SageTech team for providing us with such an easy-to-install, sustainable anaesthesia solution.”
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