St Mary's Hospital Isle of Wight. Image Island Pulse
Staff at Isle of Wight NHS Trust are asking anyone who has borrowed crutches from the local NHS and no longer needs them to return them as soon as possible.
Most crutches are returned for refurbishment and reissued to others who need them, but the majority of loaned crutches are not returned. 30 – 50 sets of crutches a week are being provided on a short-term loan basis to NHS patients by the joint Council and NHS Integrated Community Equipment Store based at Newport Business Park.
Mary Bound, General Manager for Acute Clinical Directorate said: “Despite asking people to return their walking aids, and following up with them after they are likely to no longer need them, we still find that we are running short of walking aids. Most of the crutches we issue are for patients who have attended the Emergency or Physiotherapy Departments at St. Mary’s. If every pair we issued were returned promptly, when no longer required, we wouldn’t need to buy as many new pairs every year. All we would need to replace would be those that have been damaged, worn out or to cope with increased demand. This would save us money that could be spent on front-line services.”
The message from the Island’s NHS is to clear out your cupboards and garage this weekend and return any walking aids that are no longer needed. The team at the store will be happy to receive any crutches between 8:30am and 4pm Monday – Friday, no questions asked. The Community Equipment Store is at 19 Barry Way at the end of Daish Way off Dodnor Lane on the Business Park. The team can also be contacted by telephone on 01983 528334. Walking aids, including crutches, can also be left at the front entrance of St. Mary’s Hospital.
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