Scotland's largest health board has launched a “zimmer amnesty”, urging people to return unused walking frames, sticks and crutches as part of a drive to be more environmentally friendly.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hopes to reduce the number of nearly-new walking aids that are left unused in people’s homes or thrown away instead of being reused or recycled.
It said the move would also help save money as in the financial year 2018/19 the board issued walking aids worth about £220,000. These included 9,000 zimmers at a cost of £13.75 each, 11,000 crutches at £6.67 per pair and 6,000 walking sticks, which are £2.60 each.
Allan Dodds, the board’s Allied Health Professional Orthopaedics team lead, said: “Perfectly good equipment that could help other people is cluttering up homes.
“We are appealing for people to return their unused walking aids to any of our hospitals.
“We have teamed up with Haven Recycle, a local company that cleans and tests the almost new aids for us to ensure they are ready for someone else to use. This saves the NHS and taxpayers money that can be reinvested into patient care.
“It also supports our commitment to be an environmentally friendly organisation and encourage others to reduce their carbon footprint.”
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