NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde launches 'Zimmer amnesty'
- Published
NHSGGC issued about £220,000 worth of walking aids in the last year
Scotland's largest health board has launched a "Zimmer amnesty" in a bid to increase recycling and save money.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is looking to cut down on nearly-new walking aids being left unused in peoples' homes.
The board said it hoped to reduce its carbon footprint by allowing sticks and frames to be reused or recycled.
In the last year, NHSGGC issued about £220,000 worth of walking aids.
These included:
11,000 crutches at a cost of £6.67 per pair
9,000 walking frames costing of £13.75 each
6,000 walking sticks at a cost of £2.60 each
NHSGGC said that walking aids were "too often being used once and then discarded".
The health board's Allan Dodds: said: "We're very aware that perfectly good equipment which could help other people is cluttering up peoples' homes.
"We're appealing for people to return their unused walking aids to any of our hospitals.
"This not only saves the NHS and taxpayers' money which can be reinvested into patient care, it also supports our commitment to be an environmentally friendly organisation and encourage others to reduce their carbon footprint."