A LOCAL organisation is backing a campaign calling for people to make sure their walking aids are up to the task.
Walking Stick Check Week takes place next month and aims to prevent avoidable falls.
It encourages patients, carers and healthcare professionals to check walking sticks, crutches and frames for wear and tear to ensure the equipment is still safe and reliable.
Grace Cares is supporting the initiative after it was revealed that only 20% of aids are returned after use.
The organisation said that reusing just a fraction of these could save the NHS thousands of pounds each year.
Hannah Montgomery, co-founder of Grace Cares, said:
“We’re passionate about making care both safer and more sustainable.
“Walking Stick Check Week highlights how something as simple as checking or returning a walking aid can have a huge impact – preventing falls, saving NHS resources, and protecting our planet.”
Grace Cares works with NHS trusts, councils, and care providers to rescue, refurbish, and reuse care equipment that would otherwise go to landfill.
