Christmas has come early for Orthotics Otago, but not all presents are useful.
Former patients of Dunedin Hospital are continuing to return crutches in higher-than-usual numbers following recent publicity.
In the few months since the issue was raised by Otago District Health Board chairman Richard Thomson, Orthotics Otago administration officer Robyn Hullen said she had received more crutches than she had in the previous 10 years.
In the past two months alone she has refurbished more than 200 pairs of crutches.
"A year ago, I'd be lucky if I had 35 pairs in a month."
But while she was pleased at the increasing number of relatively new crutches being returned, many were rusty or damaged.
In October, she had to discard 115 single crutches.
A further 130 were thrown out last month, which added to her workload.
She advised people to check crutches before returning them to the hospital and to throw them away - after removing the cuffs - if they were damaged.
Crutches not dismantled which turned up at the tip were often then returned to the hospital, but were usually beyond repair.
A pair of crutches lasts about three months, depending on the type of use.
The health board says equipment not returned cost it at least $24,811 in the past year.
The cost of replacing unreturned crutches was estimated at $1500 a month.
Ways of improving the system for loaned equipment are being investigated.
