It seems that most of the weekend’s national newspapers ran a story of NHS Trusts wasting valuable resources such as bedside tables, crutches, Zimmer frames and other walkers, wheelchairs, commodes etc, that were too much trouble to service and re-use.
It seems that most of the weekend’s national newspapers ran a story of NHS Trusts wasting valuable resources such as bedside tables, crutches, Zimmer frames and other walkers, wheelchairs, commodes etc, that were too much trouble to service and re-use.Discarding these at the expense of new purchases, the predictable excludes were the difficulty in servicing to make certain that equipment was safe for re-use, and a risk of infection.
Clearly, liability for defective equipment is an important consideration but not one that is insurmountable or necessarily costly.
As for the risk of infection, that is simply ridiculous. In one report, Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital NHS Trust in Essex said it would not reuse any crutches, walking sticks or walking frames ‘as infections could be passed on and it is also difficult to check for signs of damage’. The Trust’s Chief Executive and infection control team should hang their heads in shame, and in the latter case strongly consider their professional future.
The NHS is desperately short of funds. This wasteful approach does not help and those responsible must be made to answer for their use of public funds. There are plenty of companies providing effective cleaning and repair services for equipment of this kind, that operate more cheaply and often more effectively that in-house cleaning by junior nurses and healthcare assistants etc.
This casual approach to simple housekeeping wastes NHS resources, and your taxes.
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The same applies to seating where the fabric does not meet hygiene requirements. We continually come across organisations that have skipped, their dirty, worn, torn or broken seating who are not aware they can be refurbished and reused. There are commercial upholstery companies, like ourselves, who will collect, service or upgrade them to meet hygiene standards. However, there does not appear to be a viable route through procurement to make these service products available.