NHS Looks To Go Greener With New Drop Off Sites For Unwanted Medical Equipment

Hull and East Riding residents are being urged to return medical equipment that is no longer needed as part of a new NHS initiative to reuse and recycle items such as crutches and commodes.

Too often, perfectly good medical equipment is cluttering living rooms or ending up in landfills. The local NHS has now launched four new drop-off containers at refuse centres in the area to help patients support a greener, more economic health service.

NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS East Riding of Yorkshire CCG and Community Care Equipment Services provided by NRS Healthcare are working in collaboration with East Riding of Yorkshire Council; Hull City Council and FCC Environment waste management service with an aim to reduce the NHS carbon footprint and, wherever possible, reuse items some of which are in short supply.

On behalf of the council or NHS, NRS Healthcare has loaned thousands of items of equipment to help people to live independently in the community.

NRS operates a collection service for larger, more expensive items, but it is usually not cost-effective for the service to collect smaller items. Previously these items would have been thrown away or stored at home when no longer needed.

Dr James Crick, Consultant in Public Health Medicine and Associate Medical Director, NHS Hull CCG, said:

“The pandemic has meant there is a shortage of equipment such as perching stools, bed sticks, and commodes, as well as smaller items like crutches or rollators. To help combat this, wherever possible, we are now trying to reuse or recycle items appropriately.”

Returning unwanted equipment is easy. Any small equipment supplied by your local council or NHS can be dropped off at dedicated containers available at refuse centres in Hull, Goole and Driffield.

Dr Anne Jeffreys, local GP and East Riding of Yorkshire CCG Chair said:

“There are already great examples of other areas reusing and recycling equipment, and now the initiative is coming to Hull and the East Riding. By working together, we can help those patients who need it most, reduce the NHS carbon footprint and work more cost-effectively.”

People can drop off any unwanted equipment at the following locations:

Humberfield Household Waste Recycling Site (HWRC), 408 Boothferry Road, Hessle, HU13 0JL
Driffield HWRC, Church Lane, Driffield, YO25 5XE
Airmyn HWRC, Airmyn Rd, Airmyn, DN14 8LA
Wiltshire Road HWRC, 11 Dairycoates Industrial Estate, Wiltshire Road, Hull, HU4 6PA
NRS Healthcare Reed Street office, 11 Reed Street, Hull, HU2 8JJ