THE children s A&E department at Lister has run out of crutches and is holding an amnesty to encourage people who no longer need them to return them. Senior staff nurse Claire Randall said: We are having a huge issue at the moment. Crutches come in thre

THE children's A&E department at Lister has run out of crutches and is holding an amnesty to encourage people who no longer need them to return them.

Senior staff nurse Claire Randall said: "We are having a huge issue at the moment.

"Crutches come in three sizes and we haven't got any middle-sized ones, for nine or 10-year-olds."

With the warm weather and half-term approaching, Claire said: "Now is the time of year we see so many fractures. Children are out on their bikes or their trampolines and people don't really go on holiday so much during half-term, with exams looming. We are so busy with injuries.

"It's really awful because we get these nine or 10-year-olds trying desperately to walk with adult crutches but that's not safe and the children are too big to be carried.

"You are taking away a lot of their independence anyway because they are in plaster, and this only makes it worse."

Claire explained that children's A&E has had to borrow 10 pairs of crutches from Lister's physiotherapy department because the manufacturers have a problem supplying any crutches at the moment.

She said: "We have had to pay physiotherapy to have their crutches because each department has its own budget, but they have now been given out. It was only a temporary solution.

"We don't know what we are going to do now. We are holding an amnesty and we just hope people will return crutches they no longer require. We would be really delighted.