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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hospital crutches

46 replies

mummyrabbitpeppapig · 25/07/2017 22:50

Can't believe people don't return crutches / Zimmer frames etc to hospitals - a nurse told me people sell them on - eBay / gumtree etc. They turn up at local tips and go to landfill! Aibu to feel annoyed at this?

OP posts:
Majora · 25/07/2017 22:51

Nope, crutches should be returned. Why fucking sell them if you got them free on the NHS Hmm

angelgirls · 25/07/2017 22:52

I thought they wouldn't take them back! I know my mum was told this after her knee op and I wasn't asked to return my daughters

YellowLawn · 25/07/2017 22:53

the crutches dc were given were bent and broken after a while. they were bloody (literally) dangerous.
didn't dare giving them back.

TinselTwins · 25/07/2017 22:54

I've tried returning my mums and nobody wanted to take them or knew where I should drop them off

HotelRedFace · 25/07/2017 22:54

My local hospital wouldn't take mine back and advised me to "take them to the tip." They are now being used by a friend who has SPD as they are still in perfectly good condition and I couldn't bring myself to just send them to landfill.

Original poster
mummyrabbitpeppapig · 25/07/2017 22:55

Anglegirls- not true. I feel yesterday and the hospital didn't have any left- the nurse couldn't apologise enough she then told me they get sold on etc

OP posts:
Original poster
mummyrabbitpeppapig · 25/07/2017 22:56

Fell not feel!!!

OP posts:
StillDrivingMeBonkers · 25/07/2017 22:56

Our Trust wont take them back as they don't have the facilities to sterilise them.

Cant be that difficult for some enterprising individual to set up a pool of Milton and give them a dunk!

StillDrivingMeBonkers · 25/07/2017 22:58

PS- if you are in dire need - I have a porch full of crutches and those boot things - they simply will not take them back to reuse.

But then I was costing cannulas which are automatically input on admission - how often are they not used? The wait (hours) to have someone remove he cannula so you can be discharged?

YellowLawn · 25/07/2017 23:00

you can get crutches (really cool looking and comfortable ones) cheap(ish) on amazon.

Original poster
mummyrabbitpeppapig · 25/07/2017 23:05

Thanks for the offers of crutches. I'm hobbling and being taken care of ( not enjoying it one bit obviously........Wink)
By my DP. It's strange why I was told only yesterday though that they don't get returned - yet the general consensus so far as they are not advised to.

OP posts:
Original poster
mummyrabbitpeppapig · 25/07/2017 23:08

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2788096-Hospital-equipment-returns

OP posts:
StereophonicallyChallenged · 25/07/2017 23:14

I returned a pair to children's a& e last week, also the first boot thingy after broken leg. Just took them along to discharge appointment in the fracture clinic.
We've kept the second boot and won't have an appointment now for three months, so that one might not be any good by then anyway as its less sturdy and has more stretchy material parts than plastic.

Absolute lols at the trust that say they can't sterilise them!! Hospitals wash and re-use all sorts ime; from x-ray gowns to cutlery, and bedpans to baby blankets! All are washed and re-used normally so why the difficulty with crutches ffs!

chocolatespiders · 25/07/2017 23:18

People used to pay a deposit in my area. Hospital now don't take them back. I always see them at the tip.

I work in community NHS and encourage people to take them to the red cross medical.loans

Lunde · 25/07/2017 23:20

My hospital (in Sweden) makes everyone buy crutches now for £10 as so few ever get returned

FadedRed · 25/07/2017 23:22

There are several reasons why most NHS Trust will not take back some medical equipment for 'recycling', especially the cheaper and limited use equipment such as crutches, commodes and walking sticks/frames.

  1. they buy them in bulk and are actually quite inexpensive to purchase, cheaper than when a member of the public buys one in a shop.

  2. when given as new and unused, should they be found to be faulty then the responsibility lies with the manufacturer, and not the Trust. This any legal shenanigans/compensation for injury would be with the manufacturer, not the NHS.

  3. many medical devices are sold to the NHS as 'single patient use', so to reissue used equipment would be outside the licence for use.

  4. the equipment had been used outside of any supervision of NHS staff, therefore the Trust have no control over it's use and no knowledge of whether it has been used/stored correctly and therefore could have developed weaknesses (for example rust, damage or deterioration) of the equipment which is not obvious to external inspection.

  5. equipment will need decontamination, inspection and safety testing by staff trained to do all this. Most Trusts do not have this 'in house', or a budget to this this externally, and with most of these smaller medical devices, this would cost more than not doing it IYSWIM.

a pool of Milton will not cut it and the use of some decontamination methods may actually damage equipment, making it more likely to fail.

You can sell equipment on or donate to the Red Cross etc, but anyone who uses said equipment will be doing so at their own responsibility, and would not be able to hold the NHS responsible for any harm they come to from failure or ill-use of the equipment.

TinselTwins · 25/07/2017 23:29

Absolute lols at the trust that say they can't sterilise them!! Hospitals wash and re-use all sorts ime; from x-ray gowns to cutlery, and bedpans to baby blankets! All are washed and re-used normally so why the difficulty with crutches ffs

Maybe because you don't rely on the integrity of a spoon or a gown or blanket to stop you from falling on your face?

ALLthedinosaurs · 25/07/2017 23:57

We don't take them back. It isn't because you can't sterilise them, it's because the rubber tips at the end become worn down according to the user's individual walk, so won't suit someone else. God knows why we can't just have replaceable tips though.

DustyCropHopper · 26/07/2017 00:12

Where my auntie lives they do not take any of the equipment sent out back (crutches, perching stalls etc), they were told to dispose of them. My local authority either collect or get you to drop off at a centre and they are cleaned etc and reused. Far better way financially.

muddlefuck · 26/07/2017 00:18

The waste in the NHS continually annoys me

DanHumphreyIsA · 26/07/2017 05:03

'The waste in the NHS continually annoys me'

Agree, I'm shocked so many have been told to dispose of them. I wonder how much it costs to replace the rubber, rather than replacing the entire thing.
If certain hospitals have too many already, surely it would be better to ask for them to be returned and send them to the hospitals that need them (like the one in OPs case)

Spam88 · 26/07/2017 05:20

The last hospital I worked in they were considered single use. As a PP said, it's due to the fact that once they've been taken off site by a patient you have no idea if they've been looked after correctly. In fact there was an incident where a patient had been given crutches that had been returned and fell because of damage to the crutches.

endofthelinefinally · 26/07/2017 06:35

My local hospital takes a deposit for crutches that is reclaimed on return.

Skarossinkplunger · 26/07/2017 06:52

Years ago my mum broke her ankle on a holiday in France. She did get given crutches at the hospital but was told we had to go to a chemist and buy them. When we asked what to ask for it was 'Cannes Anglaise' ( excuse the spelling) which translates as English Sticks!

Anyway when she was done we have them to our local hospital.

stoplickingthetelly · 26/07/2017 07:05

Wow didn't realise hospitals didn't take this stuff back. Maybe donating to charity is the best idea.