Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the barriers faced by patients in returning NHS-issued walking aids for reuse or recycling; and what steps he is taking to ensure return schemes are accessible to patients who cannot travel to drop-off locations.

The National Health Service is committed to reducing waste, whilst also delivering cost savings and minimising environmental impact, as set out in the Delivering a Net Zero NHS report. Since the publication of the report in 2020, there have been substantial improvements in the number of locally managed walking aid refurbishment and reuse schemes. A range of resources and communications tools is available to support NHS trusts and patients with returns. This includes the Recycle Now website, where patients can check their nearest drop off location by postcode. As well as hospitals, NHS England has also established systems for walking aid return at waste and recycling centres in collaboration with local authority partners. Some trusts have offered home collection services for reusable walking aids in partnership with local authorities; however such services are less prevalent compared to schemes that utilise drop-off sites.

Additionally, the Design for Life Roadmap sets out the Government’s plan to tackle NHS medical technology waste through a circular economy. The ambition is that by 2045, the NHS will have transitioned away from all avoidable single-use medical products to a system that preserves the value of products for as long as possible. This will drive cost savings, resilience, economic growth and sustainability by maximising reuse, remanufacture and recycling of medical technology, which includes walking aids. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap

We are aware that reuse schemes will not currently be easily accessible to all patients. We are exploring how NHS infrastructure can be improved in future to promote better reuse, remanufacture and recycling of medical products through our commitments in the Design for Life Programme.