THE Scottish company at the heart of a medical waste scandal was carpeted by environmental bosses north of the Border after medical waste that should have been destroyed within 48 hours sat in its Dundee depot for two-and-a-half months.

The firm was also censured for leaving “unprocessed hazardous and non-hazardous waste” outside and uncovered at its Shotts site.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) was so worried about Healthcare Environmental Services over the summer that it started weekly inspections. It also had concerns over how efficiently the firm was tracking what was coming in to the depots.

Healthcare Environmental Services is responsible for disposing of medical waste for every hospital in Scotland. However, it is its work in England that has placed it at the centre of a criminal investigation after waste, including body parts, was left piled up. The firm’s site in site in Normanton, West Yorkshire, currently houses five times more clinical waste than its permit allows.

Although the two sites in Scotland are still within allowed levels, the Scottish Government said hospitals have contingency plans ready.

A Sepa spokesman said: “Sepa is robustly regulating the two Healthcare Environmental Services sites in Dundee and Shotts. The company has not exceeded the quantities of waste specified in their permits and it is currently operating within waste storage limits.

“On September 12, Sepa issued enforcement notices to Healthcare Environmental Services regarding the sites, with officers conducting ongoing monitoring. The enforcement notices relate to compliance with the permit and addresses the need for the company to track waste through the treatment process. We found through our inspections that existing systems did not demonstrate this sufficiently at the Dundee and Hassockrigg [Shotts] sites. The enforcement notices required procedures to be reviewed and improved by October 8.

“At Shotts, palletised waste was being stored outside the building, which was not permitted. The notice required HES to remove that, and the company has complied with this.

“At Dundee, the company was required to remove all waste that had been stored for more than the permitted timeframes – and again it has complied with that.”

Latest company accounts show Healthcare Environmental Services had a turnover of just over £31 million in the year to the end of April 2017. The firm credited an 18% increase in sales to a new treatment plant in Newcastle. Company directors Garry and Alison Pettigrew were paid £299,521 between them.

The Scottish Government it had received no reports from health boards of any issues. A spokesman said: “In the event of any disruption to service at NHS sites across Scotland, NHS Scotland already has contingency plans ready to put into place to ensure there is no impact on services.”

Healthcare Environmental Services says there simply aren’t enough incinerators to deal with the waste.

UK ministers have called on the help of other waste disposal firms and the Environment Agency south of the Border has launched a criminal investigation. It was first alerted to a problem in March this year and served a series of warning notices and enforcement orders giving a deadline to get rid of the waste.

Healthcare Environmental Services said it had highlighted the reduction in high-temperature incineration capacity over the last few years.

A spokesman added: “This is down to ageing infrastructure, prolonged breakdowns and the reliance on zero waste to landfill policies, taking up limited capacity in the market.”