Across the country, millions of dollars' worth of loaned-out hospital equipment - including crutches, walkers and wheelchairs - are left unreturned each year, and the health sector is feeling the crunch.
If not brought back, hospitals have to put spending towards replacing the equipment - funds that could otherwise be put towards necessary health services.
The equipment shortage is being felt nationwide, with at least five districts across the country having released media requests for patients to urgently return what they have loaned out.
Just at Taranaki Hospital, 800 new sets of crutches have been purchased this year, but now there are less than 150 left.
Interim Associate Director of Allied Health Taranaki Andrea told Breakfast this morning she believes, in most instances, discharged patients are simply forgetting to return the equipment they borrowed.
"They've popped it in the garage or in their spare room, and they haven't thought to return it, not realising the demand on the equipment," she said.
If equipment goes unreturned, Rowe said it means new patients may arrive in hospital and not have access to gear necessary for recovery.
"We might not have everything we need for them, so that might mean we have to keep them a little longer, or we have to find other ways of finding solutions for them where we can otherwise be able to get them home quickly and safely with what they need," she said.
"A lot of it's just the simple equipment, but it makes a massive difference to people wanting to get home, back to their families and whānau."
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