When I cared for my mother we had a lot of equipment from the Red Cross who had the contract to supply aids to help people be more mobile and independent in their own home. There had been quite a lot of questioning and reports done by the Social Worker and Occupational Therapist to assess what mum needed. We were told it was very expensive to buy this equipment and the equipment was provided on a free loan basis, There was an inventory of what had been supplied and everything had to be signed for. When mum went into a nursing home I contacted the Red Cross to ask them to collect the equipment. They could not be specific about a collection date or time and told me to leave it in the front garden and they would collect sometime the following week. When I questioned the effect the rain would have on some of the equipment I was told that it did not matter! Such a waste of money and what an attitude. The goods were taken but by whom I do not know.
There is an Age UK charity shop where I now live and this regularly has collections of walking sticks, crutches, walking frames, wheelchairs, bed levers, perching chairs and stools for sale. At least this is not wasted and the money goes to a good cause. Perhaps deposit should be put on these items when taken from the NHS system. If you lived outside the UK these items would cost you as the needy person/patient a lot of money they would not be dished out like sweets simply because you have a need. The NHS is brilliant but falls down financially in many ways.
