NRS joins NHS trust and local council to help retrieve unwanted mobility equipment for reuse
In a collaborative effort between NRS Healthcare, Herefordshire Council and Wye Valley NHS Trust, the three organisations have launched a new campaign to encourage residents to return unwanted medical equipment so it can be reused by other patients.
The ‘Hand it Back’ campaign was designed in an effort to stop unnecessary equipment waste, as millions of pounds worth of equipment is currently loaned to residents in the community, some of which may no longer be needed.
According to the Council, many mobility products, such as walking aids, wheelchairs, crutches and beds, are discarded when they are no longer needed, yet the equipment could easily be recycled for another patient to use, where it’s safe to do so. Returning the mobility devices would avoid also unnecessary landfill and would see thousands of products find new homes.
Jo Burns, Clinical Manager for Physiotherapy at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: “We’ve launched this campaign to call on former patients to return much needed equipment in order to save thousands of pounds.
“We ordered 6,300 walking aids last year to be loaned to patients with mobility issues at a cost of nearly £56,000. This equipment has been loaned to patients, but sometimes people don’t realise it can be re-used.
“So if your equipment is no longer needed or used please ‘hand it back’ and help us replenish our stocks for other patients and save the NHS money.”
NRS Healthcare is offering a free collection service to help retrieve the unwanted mobility aids from the community.
In October 2018, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) called for patients to return unwanted mobility equipment to the NHS so that it could be efficiently reused, stop unnecessary waste, and save the Health Service thousands of pounds.
