The King’s Lynn hospital is appealing to patients to return walking aids, like crutches and frames, when they are no longer needed so equipment can be recycled and refurbished.
The Reuse and Recycling scheme, which has been running at The QEH for 15 years, sees 2,836 walking aids returned and redistributed to new patients each year saving thousands of pounds each year. However some aids never come back to the hospital.
The QEH is committed to reducing carbon emissions and being more financially sustainable. Patients returning equipment that is no longer needed reduce waste, save precious NHS money and make a positive contribution to sustainability.
Pippa Street, Chief Nurse at The QEH, said: “We are incredibly proud of how this recycling initiative has grown over the past 15 years. Not only are we providing a much needed service to our patients by reusing walking aids, but we are also reducing our environmental impact.
“We encourage everyone, whether a patient or member of the public, to return any walking aids that are no longer needed to us to support this scheme.”
The QEH’s patients, as well as members of the public, can drop off any unwanted walking aids at the hospital’s Main Outpatient Department Monday-Friday 8.30am-5pm.
The hospital is reducing its carbon footprint by recycling these items locally, preventing thousands of tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. This is just one way the hospital is making a different to the environment as part of its ‘Green Plan’ and is committed to a more sustainable healthcare system.
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Click here to download the press release and photos.
Notes to editors;
For media enquiries only, please contact Communications Team, media.enquiries@qehkl.nhs.uk or 01553 613216.
For all other enquiries, please contact QEH Switchboard on 01553 613613.
Photo caption: Jason Edwards, Equipment Practitioner, The QEH
£36,000 was saved between January 2024 and January 2025. The QEH recycled 2836 pieces of equipment for re-use which was approximately 84% of that issued between Jan 2024 – Jan 2025.
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