General News
10 September, 2025
North West dietitian shares waste-reduction project findings at national conference
A North West Queensland dietitian has showcased a project focused on reducing hospital waste at the Mount Isa Hospital.
A North West Queensland dietitian has showcased a project focused on reducing hospital waste at the Mount Isa Hospital to allied health professionals from across Australia and New Zealand.
North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) dietitian Gina Teixeira attended the National Allied Health Conference in Adelaide in mid-August, where she shared findings from her project on oral nutrition supplement wastage at Mount Isa Hospital.
The project examined both the financial and environmental costs of unused supplements, an area never previously studied locally.
Her project highlights the financial, environmental, and clinical impacts of oral nutrition supplement wastage at the hospital, and the innovative strategies being developed to improve sustainability and patient care.
“Wastage can occur in two ways – products that expire before reaching patients, and those that are only partly consumed once given,” Ms Teixeira said.
“At Mount Isa Hospital, most waste was from expired stock, largely due to short-dated inventory.”
Overall, the project found that 9% of ready-to-drink oral nutrition supplements were wasted to landfill, with an average of 36% of each bottle discarded.
Ms Teixeira plans to work with the broader dietetics team to create waste-mitigation strategies that align with Mount Isa Hospital’s environmental sustainability goals, while also increasing patient consumption of oral nutrition supplements to improve nutritional adequacy.
“This project has the potential to improve how supplements are prescribed and managed – for example, by considering patient preferences, adjusting prescribing practices, or sourcing products with longer shelf lives. That means less waste, better patient outcomes, and cost savings for the health service,” she said.