Had I not stood my ground,we would,in one 6 month period have ended up with 5 Zimmer frames.From Ambulance staff to Ward staff,the approach was the same-"We haven't got room to store them,You take it".My answer was exactly the same,on one occasion,I plonked the thing in the seat of the drivers companion on the Patient Transport vehicle to make the point(not an emergency vehicle I hasten to add).I contacted both local residential homes and the Red Cross in the event of a repeat only to be told that as we lived in the Cumbria NHS Trust area,the things were given away with the discharge medication and that even if they were allowed to accept them,they also had no place to store them.Some time later,at the tip,I saw a skip full of Zimmers,marked with the details of Trusts from all over the country.Quite astonishing and had I been from the point of someone in need,sad and troubling.
