A health trust is appealing for the return of walking aids so that they can be reused.

In 2023-2024, Sherwood Hospitals gave out more than 13,000 walking aids — the carbon footprint being the equivalent of driving from London to Edinburgh almost 1,000 times — and a large number have never been brought back.

Now patients are being asked to return unused metal walking aids, such as crutches, sticks, and frames. The equipment will then be safety checked, repaired, and reissued where appropriate, or recycled when not safe for reuse.

People can return any unwanted walking aids, irrespective of when or where they got them from, to any of the three hospitals the trust operates.

Clinic 10 (Therapy Services) or the main entrance at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton, is open 24/7 to receive items, call 01623 672384; while the Rehab Unit at Mansfield Community Hospital, call 01623 785122, and Byron House, Newark Hospital, call 01636 685885 are open from 8am to 4pm to receive equipment.

Therapy services at King’s Mill will work with the British Red Cross, which has an equipment return and reuse system, to make sure items can be refurbished.

From left, physiotherapist Jenny Tang; Laura Millward, Therapy operational manager; and Deborah Kerry, physiotherapist and Improvement Faculty fellow.

The trust said walking aids will be tracked to individual patients in the future to improve patient safety, particularly if walking aids have safety recalls. Refurbishing walking aids will reduce the quantity of new ones being issued, reducing CO2 emissions associated with manufacturing.

Deborah Kerry, a physiotherapist on secondment with the Improvement Faculty at the trust, said: “The relaunch of this scheme is another step forwards in the trust’s drive towards achieving the Net Zero target, and I am really excited to be project lead.

“I hope the public will embrace the scheme, which will have a positive environmental and financial impact.”