Benenden hospital installs ground-breaking anaesthetic gas recycling technology

By Giles Gwinnett

30 October 2023

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Simon Brooks Benenden Hospital’s Anaesthetics and Recovery Clinical Lead pictured with the reusable capture canister, the SID-Can - picture: benenden health

Kent's Benenden Hospital is doing its bit for the environment having integrated a groundbreaking system developed in Devon, which captures and recycles anaesthetic gas from operating theatres.

It has become the first independent private hospital in the UK to install SageTech Medical's 'SID-Dock' system, which captures the gas breathed out by a patient (a greenhouse gas) and puts it in reusable capture canisters ('SID-Cans') containing special filters, which can then be recycled at regional facilities for future use.

Anaesthetic gases are vital for putting patients to sleep but come at an environmental cost.
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 waste.

Benenden hospital said that when implemented across the site, SageTech Medical’s 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."

Jane Abbott, director of Benenden Hospital, added: "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."

Once exhaled into the atmosphere, waste volatile anaesthetics stay around for a long time and have high global warming potential. They also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution.
Opened in 1907, Benenden is the only private hospital in Kent to be rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

It offers a wide range of healthcare consultations, treatments and diagnostic services to self-pay patients, Benenden Health members and those with private health insurance. It also offers some services to NHS patients via the e-referral system.

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By Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.