Bring out your unwanted medical equipment!

A antidiluvian crutch

Many years ago my husband, Nick, had a nasty accident while on a business trip in San Francisco.  The driver of the taxi that he took from the airport to the city drove much too fast during a rain storm and skidded and crashed into the barriers at the side of the freeway.  As a result he broke his ankle and, having been patched up by San Francisco Hospital, he returned home for further treatment at the West Suffolk Hospital with crutches provided by the US medical services.

These crutches were immediately condemned as antediluvian in design by the orthopaedic department at West Suffolk.  However I have no recollection of ever returning their replacements to the hospital

Well, it seems I was not alone in hanging on to medical bits and pieces that are given out by hospitals in times of need.

Last year in Suffolk local health services issued over 100,000 NHS community equipment items to patients in need at a cost of more than £8.5m. By the end of the year nearly 40,000 items, costing £3.4m, had not been returned to the contractor Medequip. While some patients need equipment for long periods of time, NHS services lose thousands of pounds each year due to missing equipment.

In a bid to save some money the NHS, working with Suffolk County Council, has announced an amnesty during the month of March, hoping that people will return some of the items that they no longer need.  Three collection points have been set up at Medequip depots in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Ellough (near Beccles), which will be open to collect goods from 8.30 to 5 p.m. on Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.  Mediquip will also pick up items if you call them on 01473 351805. The locations of the sites can be found by clicking Here. . The collection service will continue after the March amnesty is over.