Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of compulsory walking aid return and reuse schemes for NHS trusts.

The National Health Service is committed to reducing its environmental impact, and in 2020, published its Delivering a Net Zero NHS strategy, committing to reach net zero by 2045.

The NHS recognises that reusing walking aids, such as crutches, frames, and walking sticks, provides an excellent opportunity for carbon savings due to the high greenhouse gas intensity of aluminium manufacture. As part of its commitment to reach net zero by 2045, NHS England is working to expand walking aid refurbishment and reuse schemes, and has made a range of resources and tools available to support NHS staff starting new schemes or boosting existing schemes. The most recent support for staff being the inclusion of walking aids in the net zero product savings calculator, available to all NHS staff. NHS Supply Chain’s Aid for Daily Living framework has also been designed to maximise the return and reuse of such devices with the inclusion of a refurbishment service.