The issue came to the fore recently after board chairman Richard Thomson admitted to finding a long-forgotten walking stick at the back of a wardrobe.
When patients are issued with crutches through the fracture clinic, emergency department, physiotherapy or other in-patient areas, they are asked to return them when the walking aids are no longer required.
But many patients do not, and board mental health and community services group manager Elaine Chisnall said the process for following up the return of equipment was being reviewed to improve the return rate.
One possibility was people paying a deposit on equipment, which would be refunded when the items were returned.
However, the cost-effectiveness of any system would need to be assessed.
It was not easy to establish how many pairs of long-overdue crutches were out on loan, but Mrs Chisnall asked anyone with hospital equipment that was no longer required to return it to the hospital.
Amnesties for unreturned equipment had been held in the past and this might be an option, she said.
Returned crutches were sent to Orthotics Otago, where they were cleaned and refurbished.
Orthotics Otago administration officer Robyn Hullen said the life of a pair of crutches was about three months, depending on how patients treated them.
At the Dunedin Urgent Doctors and Accident Centre, which has a couple of hundred pairs of crutches for use, patients pay a $30 refundable deposit, which practice manager Belinda Watkins said was a motivating incentive for patients to return the equipment.
Staff also gave patients a reminder telephone call, if required.
Mercy Hospital, which issues crutches through the physiotherapy centre there, also finds it difficult to keep track of all its crutches.
Physiotherapist Shelley Aitcheson said patients, other than ACC ones, were charged $20 for the crutches, and that sum was not refundable when crutches were brought back.
She estimated about 40 pairs of crutches were issued over a fortnight, with about 25% never coming back.
Follow-up phone calls were not always successful, as often people had moved.
It would be interesting to do a study on where all the crutches went, she said.
At the district health board, hospital services provided equipment for up to six weeks, with items required longer provided by Enable, on behalf of the Ministry of Health.
Mrs Chisnall said an equipment pool which provided equipment to support people in the community loaned items with an expected return date.
This service had a robust follow-up system for non-returned items.
