Hi all
It was me that raised this with John. I'm sure that all biomed departments have all done this. Ive thrown away masses of brand new manuals, CD's etc over the years, and it must be happening in every hospital in every country! Not only is thisi a waste of resources to produce stuff that goes in the bin straight away, its also included in the price you are paying for the new equipment, AND you also have to pay for it to be disposed of!
I raised the issue with the EU as its them that determine the laws about manuals. It took 6 months to get a reply, which Ive copied below.
Dear Mr Aldridge,
Thank you for your message.
We understand the situation specific to hospitals as well as the economic but also environmental implications.
However, it is a legal requirement for manufacturers to provide the user manual along with the medical device with no derogations to this rule.
We will certainly take into consideration your message and take note of this problem. We will bring this issue not only to the attention of our Unit but also to the attention of other services of the European Commission.
Best regards,
Eftychia Sideri
Eftychia.SIDERI@ec.europa.eu
European Commission
DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Health Technology and Cosmetics
Unit GROW D.4
If you feel strongly as I do that this kind of waste should be stopped, please email Ettychia at the above email.
I would also propose that somehow as a collective we get a petition out to the EU and anyone else that might listen (suggestions?)
There are over 9000 members on these forums, which can be a powerful voice I hope.
Its 2020, so lets see if we can make a difference
Regards
Richard Aldridge
Lead Technologist, Royal London ACCU
