Just how can the NHS save money?

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Feb 2003
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Location
Chelmsford
Yesterday, on visiting outpatients, I finally remembered to return my crutches when they told me they don't take them back and that it's my responsibility to dispose of them. "you can donate them to Red Cross", I was informed. I was quite frankly gobsmacked tbh.. Nothing that a steam clean and new rubbers on the bottom wouldn't fix then they are as good as new. What an utter waste of NHS funding and tax payers money..

With the NHS in trouble as it is, can they afford to be so picky? I think not..
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Yesterday, on visiting outpatients, I finally remembered to return my crutches when they told me they don't take them back and that it's my responsibility to dispose of them. "you can donate them to Red Cross", I was informed. I was quite frankly gobsmacked tbh.. Nothing that a steam clean and new rubbers on the bottom wouldn't fix then they are as good as new. What an utter waste of NHS funding and tax payers money..

With the NHS in trouble as it is, can they afford to be so picky? I think not..
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A steam clean/new rubber bits and someone to fit them probably costs more than a new set.
 
I had to give mine back, although that was a number of years ago. Probably the cost of having people collect them + clean them etc is more than just buying a new pair.
 
it's horrific the mis-management, same goes for drugs, the nhs should have massive bargaining power (being, y'know, the prime healthcare provider for an entire freakin country) but they end up paying over the odds for a lot of stuff.

it's a shame really that a great institution filled with great people is getting run into the ground by bad management and political bickering.
 
Wife works at the local hospital and they do not take returns as management says it costs more to clean and reissue them then to replace. Has been like that for the last 5years or so
 
area51_for_psx said:
Wife works at the local hospital and they do not take returns as management says it costs more to clean and reissue them then to replace. Has been like that for the last 5years or so
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Maybe they need to look at why it costs so much to apply a sponge and some soapy water with a spot of disinfectant to a pair of crutches, could the cleaners at the NHS not do that as part of their role?
 
Probably relates to now CQC guidelines and admin process.
Any return would have to be sterilised, this now involves a process whereby the device in question can be traced and the process is fully recorded.
I don't know if there are washer disinfector and steam sterilisers suitable to accommodate crutches, that would also have a verifiable process.
I am also unsure if crutches would survive sterilisation at 135degrees.
Previously you could have washed wiped and reused.
Now you have to have a process to sterilise against various things, as you've no idea if crutches could be covered in fecal matter, or some such, you've no idea what people do with items.
The whole concept is probably overkill, but that is the way of CQC/RQIA, it is all black and white, if it can't be sterilised, it can't be reused.
 
In 2102 by the time each toilet roll had been through multiple layers of procurement, storage, delivery was in a toilet cubicle it cost near £1 per roll. I've never looked into this claim, but can believe it.
 
Roar87 said:
Maybe they need to look at why it costs so much to apply a sponge and some soapy water with a spot of disinfectant to a pair of crutches, could the cleaners at the NHS not do that as part of their role?
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You imagine the uproar if they did that though, and the crutches failed/caused an accident. Even if it wasn't the hospitals fault, they would most likely still get sued!
 
The amount of money wasted in the NHS runs into hundreds of millions because of the ridiculous rules that govern how NHS health boards buy pretty much everything and from whom.
Then they privatised maintenance and now if a consultant needs a shelf put up it is a three month waiting time, assessment and the contracted out or for triple what it would have cost in the past. A ward has a squeaky trolley pretty much the same routine, none of that quick squirt of WD 40 if you please.
 
area51_for_psx said:
Wife works at the local hospital and they do not take returns as management says it costs more to clean and reissue them then to replace. Has been like that for the last 5years or so
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What about wheel chairs then?

A quick disinfection spray and job done..

This an the fact I was send to a Private Hospital for scan at the NHS's expense.. not that I was complaining.. but *** ..
 
Daaaavvveee said:
You imagine the uproar if they did that though, and the crutches failed/caused an accident. Even if it wasn't the hospitals fault, they would most likely still get sued!
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Yeah good point, that occurred to me afterwards that there's no doubt a safety aspect in terms of wear and tear on the device and if it were to fail who would be liable.
 
Being sued dictates most of it. Also politicians trying to keep the public on their side. A major hospital infection traced back to a second hand crutch doesn't look good for the politician in charge also doesn't set a good image abroad. So in short money and keeping up appearances.

I still can't get over how they spent around £5 billion on their IT system that doesn't / didn't even work. Even all of FB 's network infrastructure costs around £2.2 Billion.
 
I was talking to an ex-paramedic the other day, he said that the packet of plasters you can get in the Pound Shop costs the NHS tens of pounds because of preferred suppliers and contractual obligation.

Yes, £20-£30 for a packet of ******* sticking plasters, because contracts. :mad:
 
Kronos said:
How would that help the massive money wasting due to incompetence, red tape?
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Partly a tongue in cheek comment. Partly also you might find less people turning up for pointless/unecessary reasons which ultimately waste time and money.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Do you think so? In bulk numbers?
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Quite possibly.

To reissue the crutches they would need to:
Book them in.
Give them an inventory/tracking number (so the following could be done properly)
Check/replace rubbers (that can be "fun", they are usually extremely tightly fitted).
Check the various rivets are in good shape (there are several that wear/work loose).
Check the adjustment springs/pins are in good shape.
Check the arm ring and handle grips are good (the grips have a tendency to shift/work loose).
Clean them (may require dismantling).
Store them.
Document all of the above as having been done by someone with suitable training (and likely done off site as I doubt the NHS has the room/facilities at most hospitals, so that's added costs).

You can buy better crutches than the NHS typically supply for under £30 retail if you know where to go (I used to have to do it for my mum*), and for the NHS to reissue them and be covered for insurance liababilities it would probably cost more than writing them off after one use of several weeks/months.

Wheelchairs tend to be far better constructed than crutches and typically far far more expensive :) (we were lucky to find a local retailer that did them for only about £250, after one scheme** that issued my mum with one via a voucher ended up costing us about £300 on top of a £300 or £500 voucher).

In my experience crutches only tend to last about 12-18 months of use anyway (that was with my mother using an electric scooter for any movement around outside), so any savings would likely be minimal allowing for the cost of the refurb/reissue.

Talking of crutches, I think we've still got about 4 pairs of my mum's knocking around the place as we ended up keeping one pair upstairs, one pair downstairs and well as several older ones we kept for spares/in case of emergency (all ones we had bought)..



*She was on crutches continuously for about 20-30 years, and it would take months to get replacements via the NHS vs about 15 minutes online, or a 30 minute drive.

**I'm not sure how/what happened but once the hospital decided she needed a wheelchair rather than them supplying it direct/via the physio she was given a voucher and sent off to be measured, then given a list of companies that could supply one to those specifications (several of the companies had no idea what to do and none were local) with the cheapest company charging rather a lot, I suspect it was a failed attempt to outsource the provision as it never happened again (late 90's).
 
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