A LEADING Northfield hospital is urging former patients to return their provided walking aids when they no longer need them.
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) is holding is holding a Walking Aid Amnesty in a bid to to re-use or recycle items which are left unused in previous hospital patients’ houses.
ROH Consultant physiotherapist, Georgia Wells, believes the scheme is an important one. She said: “Giving patients access to the right equipment after their surgery is a priority to help them recover safely.
“We want to ensure that we can provide walking aids to all of our patients, while also ensuring that we act as sustainably as possible. That means re-using what we can and recycling what we can’t.”
The scheme looks to rectify patients keeping unused walking aids such as crutches, walking sticks and zimmer frames when they no longer need them.
Many patients get better and no longer need the apparatus but some fail to return them, preventing the hospital from re-distributing them to other patients or recycling them properly.
The Walking Aid Amnesty coincides with Greener Allied Health Professional (AHP) Week 2024 which is an opportunity for AHPs to contribute to delivering a Net Zero NHS.
As the third largest clinical workforce in the NHS, AHPs have an important role to play in supporting sustainability.
Anyone can drop off their unused walking aids at the Outpatient Department (gate C) of the ROH, Bristol Road South, Northfield or the ROH at College Green Health and Wellbeing Centre, Bristol Road South.
There’s no need to book, just look for the blue amnesty bin and leave your walking aids. The Walking Aid Amnesty will run up until Monday, April 29.
