A hospital has launched an investigation into claims staff are making money from a 'bin scam' that has allegedly been running for years. The internal inquiry is centred on Salford Royal Hospital.
It is claimed that large trade bins from the site have been delivered to businesses and private addresses by some staff members from the hospital. Once full with rubbish and waste, it is alleged, they have been taken back to the hospital where the contents have been tipped into a compactor.
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Staff are alleged to have benefited by charging a fee for the service.
Andrew Montgomery, Deputy Director, Estates, Facilities, and Capital Development at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “We are aware of these allegations and have an internal investigation underway.”
One source at the hospital said: "The investigation has been going on for a while but has been kept quiet. It is completely wrong what has been happening and would have an impact on patient care as those involved are not at the hospital doing what they should be doing. It is a massive fiddle and has apparently been going on for years.
"The trade bins are distributed to businesses and private addresses - people are charged for them - then they are picked up and driven back to the compactor at the hospital. It is claimed thousands of pounds have been made this way."
Salford Royal is a large university teaching hospital on Stott Lane, with 728 beds. In December it was one of three hospitals in Greater Manchester that inspectors said must improve after finding services, including A&E were understaffed.
Urgent and emergency services in Salford and Bury were described as "cluttered and overcrowded" with some patients in corridors. Inspectors said that urgent and emergency care at Salford Royal and Royal Oldham did not have enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe.
The report by the Care Quality Commission followed unannounced inspections in August and September. It came a year after the new Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust was formed following Salford Royal's legal acquisition of the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The two trusts were previously rated outstanding and good respectively.
