A RETIRED engineer has offered to fix up broken hospital equipment to save the struggling NHS.

Steve Holmes, who ran Custom Carousels in Dovercourt until he retired two years ago, says volunteering pensioners could help save the health service.

The 66-year-old has come up with the idea after seeing skips filled with broken equipment outside Harwich’s Fryatt Hospital.

He said: “On a number of occasions I have walked past skips at the Harwich hospital that were full of broken pieces of equipment.

“On looking inside the skip I could see loads of things that basically only needed repairing and putting back together, walking frames that need a nut and bolt, wheelchairs or chairs that need re-upholstering.

“I am a retired engineer and from what I saw in the skip it would be so easy to put a great amount of the things back into safe working order.

“I would happily do this for free and would think there must be a lot of skilled retiree’s that would also work for nothing to help out.”

But Mr Holmes said staff at the hospital told him the equipment couldn’t be used even if fixed due to health and safety.

“Even if the NHS couldn’t, they would be no reason it couldn’t be put together and put up for auction and all the money from the sale go back to the NHS,” he added. “It’s just wasteful otherwise - I look in the skip and that’s my tax money being thrown away.”

Mr Holmes has also suggested the NHS set up a volunteer scheme much like the police have special constables, the fire service have retained firefighters and the ambulance has community first responders.

“The NHS is short of staff and there are people sitting around who would be willing to give a few hours to help.”

A spokesman for the NHS said plans to improve volunteering opportunities could be made next year.