A SICK WASTE
Piled high in a skip, a mountain of NHS crutches, wheelchairs and vital medical equipment dumped for scrap – in a scandal that costs YOU millions in taxes every year
THE NHS is wasting millions of pounds each year by needlessly scrapping vital medical equipment that could be reused.
A Mail on Sunday investigation has found that thousands of crutches, walking frames, sticks and wheelchairs are systematically dumped in skips or never returned to hospitals, costing taxpayers millions.
In one region alone, we discovered a small mountain of mobility aids and other hospital equipment, all seemingly in good condition, apparently destined to become scrap – as our exclusive pictures show.
As well as mobility aids, thousands of artificial limbs, costing up to £5,000 a time, are also pointlessly thrown away, campaigners say.
Former Health Minister Norman Lamb said: ‘When the NHS is chronically under-funded and operations are having to be rationed, it is scandalous that the NHS is wasting so much money. Managers should investigate as a matter of urgency.’
Another former Health Minister, Tory MP Dan Poulter, called for action to cut the waste, saying: ‘There is no reason why walking aids, crutches and other equipment cannot be cleaned and reused.’
Our shocking photographs were taken at a depot in Exeter, where NHS equipment from several health authorities is collected and sorted.
Health chiefs say the equipment is checked carefully to see if it can be reused, and only items damaged beyond repair or which pose an infection risk are discarded.
The organisation running the depot, Pluss, does indeed provide patients with previously used mobility aids deemed to be safe. But our pictures appear to reveal costly equipment in near pristine condition being tossed away by workmen.
When we asked Pluss if the equipment pictured was useable or not, it refused to answer. We provided details of when the photos were taken so it could check records but Pluss again refused to say if the equipment was usable, damaged, or not yet assessed for reuse.
Last year the NHS in England spent
‘We must investigate as a matter of urgency’
around £18million on crutches, walking sticks and frames, according to industry sources. Millions more is spent on aids to help the elderly and infirm live independently, such as wheelchairs, bath seats, shower chairs and bed tables – some of which can be seen in our pictures.
Despite the huge sums spent on equipment, there is no national policy on how the NHS or councils should deal with used equipment.
Some health authorities save hundreds of thousands of pounds simply by keeping tabs on who has been loaned equipment and demanding it is returned. In Barnsley, a service run by South and West Yorkshire NHS Trust saves around £330,000 a year by reusing 93 per cent of the equipment it loans to patients.
And the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, loaned 4,618 mobility items last year and refurbished 2,777. A spokesman said: ‘All equipment issued has its own identification and is tracked. All that is returned and deemed safe is refurbished, cleaned and then reissued.’
But other NHS trusts discard all used mobility equipment, claiming it is unsafe to reuse it or too expensive to process. For example, Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital NHS Trust in Essex said it would not reuse any crutches, walking sticks or walking frames ‘as infections
‘Trusts are terrified of being sued’
could be passed on and it is also difficult to check for signs of damage’.
The Trust, which declared a £34million deficit for 2015-16, spent £18,568 on crutches alone over the same period.
Last week, health bosses in East Kent declared an ‘amnesty’, calling on the public to return crutches and walking aids, which they say leaves them £27,000 a year out of pocket.
Yet two neighbouring NHS Trusts – Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, and the Kent and Medway Social Care Partnership – said they do not
reuse crutches or walking sticks because of ‘patient safety’.
The NHS also wastes money by discarding prosthetic limbs, campaigners say. One amputee, Ray Edwards, was so shocked to discover how many artificial limbs are thrown away after patients die that he founded the charity Limbcare, which sends artificial limbs mbs and other former NHS equipment to Africa.
Mr Edwards, who at 62 is Britain’s longest surviving quadruple amputee, said: ‘Rehab centres and NHS hospitals just waste so much material – artificial limbs, wheelchairs, crutches, mobility scooters, walking frames, you name it.
‘Since 2010, health and safety issues have made e matters even worse. As far r as many trusts are con- cerned, you cannot reuse e anything which a human n being has worn, sat in, or r used. We must waste mill lions and millions of pounds a week on this stuff.
‘A below-the-knee artifiicial leg costing about £5,000 0 is just thrown away byy most trusts because they’rere terrified of getting sued foror something that might be defective. The only part t tailor-made for the user is the socket for the stump – all other parts are fairly standard.’
Dr Karol Sikora, dean of the University of Buckingham medical school, was astonished at our revelations. He said: ‘I can’t believe these gadgets can’t be sterilised. It seems an awful waste. Why not charge a deposit and give it back on return?’
A spokesman for the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust said all patients were ‘encouraged’ to return walking aids. ‘The Trust will reuse all walking aid equipment that is returned, provided it is safe and fit for reissue and can be appropriately cleaned,’ he said.
He added that no figures are kept for the items returned and last year the Trust spent more than £605,000 on mobility aids and wheelchairs.
A spokesman for Pluss in Exeter said: ‘We will recycle equipment wherever it is economically viable to do so. ‘Our primary consideration is ensuring that our customers receive equipment which is completely safe for them to use.
‘When equipment is returned to us, we will make an informed decision. Where the cost of deep-cleaning items and refurbishment is greater than buying a new item of equipment, it does not make economic sense to reissue equipment. We do not reissue equipment that has suffered excessive wear and tear. In these instances the items are sent for reprocessing by specialist metal recycling companies, ensuring nothing goes to landfill.’