£5M BAILOUT UP IN SMOKE

SNP is accused of failing to implement a plan on clinical waste after previous scandal

- CHRIS MCCALL

THE SNP government is under pressure to explain why a multinational company hired to dispose of NHS waste was "bailed out" with millions of taxpayers' cash.

Spanish-owned Tradebe signed a £120million contract in 2019 to dispose of hazardous waste, including human remains, from every hospital, GP surgery and pharmacy in Scotland.

But clinical waste ended up being sent south of the Border in 2021 after a fire gutted the company's processing plant in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

It can now be revealed that Tradebe received an additional £5.4million from National Services Scotland (NSS), which handles third-party contracts for the NHS, in the years afterwards.

Labour said it proved SNP ministers had failed to implement a sustainable plan to manage Scotland's clinical waste following a previous scandal in 2018 that saw tons of human remains piling up in a warehouse.

Jackie Baillie, the party's health spokeswoman, said: "Scottish Labour warned the SNP government at the time not to rush through any contract award to Tradebe without proper due diligence.

"Sadly, our warnings proved correct and the taxpayer is footing the bill." Tradebe picked up a 10-year contract in 2019 after the collapse of Healthcare Environmental Services (HES), which ceased trading after it became embroiled in a clinical waste pile-up controversy with the NHS.