more than $450,000 of district health board medical equipment missing or overdue1

More than 9000 medical devices worth more than $450,000 have disappeared from hospitals across the country.
Each year, thousands of items loaned to patients are delayedor not at all.
Crutches, walkers, and shower stools are the most common missing items, but at the Oakland district health bureau, cough aids worth $9635 have expired and Nelson\'s mattress is worth about $4000 --
Marlborough district health bureau.
The Taranaki District Health Council said they needed to replace 400 pairs of crutches for the past 10 months at about $10,000.
According to data released by the Herald, about 8881 pieces of Auckland, the capital and coast, Hawke Bay, Central, Taranaki, Waikato, witmata and Nelson have expired
Marlborough District Health Bureau
The other five health committees were unable to provide figures, and the remaining seven did not answer the questions.
Only four of these projects are able to pay for overdue projects.
The total value of 5758 items overdue by Auckland, capital and coast, Hawke Bay and Central DHBs was $448,303.
Earlier this year, the capital and Coast DHB called on people to return any unused and expired equipment
No problem.
Not only did the United Nations
The cost of the returned equipment is high, it has traffic
Kenny mccaur, contract manager for capital and Coast DHB, said the impact on other patients.
\"People sometimes don\'t return the device at all, or put it away and forget-but that means another patient in need may miss it, or face delays in leaving the hospital to go home.
\"There is no shortage of medical equipment in DHB that can be loaned, but there is no
Returned items need to be replaced using funds better used to update equipment and technology, he said.
There are also related fees for tracking overdue items, which are carried out weekly in the capital and coast.
An Oakland father admitted that he had insisted on crutches and knee pads for about a year and a half before returning.
They borrowed it from the hospital after his son and daughter were injured.
\"They get hurt a lot, so I actually keep them because I know they get their age again when I have to go back,\" he said . \".
\"I really feel guilty.
\"The man said he was always surprised that the hospital did not need a security deposit when borrowing the equipment.
A spokesman for Wairarapa DHB said that they do not charge a security deposit because \"for some people who may become a barrier to equipment use, people have items that they need to help with to recover during that time \".
DHBs agrees that an extension can be arranged for anyone who still needs to use the item after the original return date.
Unused items can be discarded in the hospital or collection can be arranged in some cases.
DHBs requests the return of their equipment and guarantees that no penalty will be imposed on the person returning the item late.
The Hutt Valley DHB was unable to provide current figures, but said that by the end of last year, the occupational therapy department had lent out $40,000 worth of overdue equipment.
A hospital spokesman said items were loaned to patients to help them move around and manage at home after being injured or sick.
\"It is important that once our equipment is no longer needed, our equipment will be returned because there are waiting lists for some items,\" she said . \".
\"It is necessary to replace the unreturned equipment, which affects our ability to purchase different devices that may bring real benefits to our customers.