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Hospital volunteer drivers save trust more than £80k

Ellen Knightin Shrewsbury
News imageBBC Photograph of Turner driving, taken over his shoulder. You can see the back of Turner's head - he has short, curly grey hair and a beard. He is wearing a pair of thin-framed glasses, and a dark blue fleece. The interior of his car is black, with a silver Toyota logo on the wheel. Outside the windscreen, you can see Turner is driving down a residential street. BBC
Robert Turner is one of 17 volunteer drivers across the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

A scheme that uses volunteers to drive patients to and from hospital is helping relieve pressure and save money for stretched NHS resources.

The project, developed by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) and charity Helpforce, is believed to have saved the trust £86,000 in just six months.

The service helps patients who need regular treatment, like kidney dialysis, or those who need a lift home after being discharged.

Robert Turner, a volunteer driver, said he travelled "about 100 or 120 miles a day with maybe four or five patients".

Turner, 75, spends two days a week driving patients, and said he started volunteering to "try and give something back to the NHS, albeit in a very modest way".

He is one of 17 volunteer discharge drivers, who are only paid for their fuel and mileage.

As well as driving patients around, they help settle them into their homes, checking heating, lights, and water are up and running if they have had a long stay in hospital.

"People have had their [electricity] meters run out while they've been in hospital," Turner explained, adding that "when you're feeling a bit frail and uncertain, it's nice to have somebody there to help".

He said the patients he transported sometimes "think they've got to pay" for the service, adding that he is "very pleased to tell them, good old NHS, it's free".

News imageTurner photographed sat at the wheel of his car, looking out of the passenger window. He is wearing a blue polo shirt with 'Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust' and 'Volunteer' embroidered on it in white lettering. He has short, grey, curly hair, a beard, and is wearing thin-framed glasses. The interior of his car is black.
Turner said he wanted to give back to the NHS, "albeit in a very modest way"

Jane Lewis has kidney failure, meaning she has dialysis at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital three times per week.

This process of removing blood from her body and cleaning it takes four hours - leaving her exhausted and drained, so driving herself home is not an option.

She was previously taken to and from hospital in a non-emergency ambulance, but now travels by car with a volunteer driver.

The process is "so much easier and nicer" now, Lewis said, as well as quicker.

Before the volunteer drivers, she said she would complete her dialysis and then wonder how long she would have to wait for transport.

"It could be straight away, it could be two hours, you just had no idea," Lewis recalled.

"Now, you know that [the volunteers] are going to be there."

News imageLewis photographed looking towards the camera from her hospital bed. She is wearing a black tshirt and a beige cardigan. She has short, dark grey hair, and is smiling. She is propped up on white pillows, with a blue hospital blanket. Behind her is a screen, and a blue sign reading 'Station 10' in white letters.
Jane Lewis said getting home was "so much easier" with the volunteers

Like other volunteers who support the hospital trust, they undergo checks and training, and over six months, more than 600 journeys have been made by the drivers.

An evaluation carried out by healthcare charity Helpforce found that 98% of patients were collected within 30 minutes of being discharged.

Its data found that over a six-month period, it had saved the trust more than £86,000 by not having to use hospital transport, ambulances, or taxis.

Helpforce even believed this scheme could be a blueprint for other NHS trusts to follow Shropshire's lead.

News imageChohan pictured looking into the camera and smiling. He has short silver hair, brushed into a quiff, and a short beard. He's wearing a navy blue blazer, navy tie, and a light blue collared shirt. He's stood in a long hospital corridor, which has white walls and a white ceiling.
Amerjit Chohan believed the scheme could save millions of pounds if introduced across the country

"It's making a huge difference", CEO Amerjit Chohan said.

He added that if the scheme was implemented nationwide, about £30m could be saved per year.

But it's "not just all about the savings," Chohan said.

"It's about the difference it makes to those patients and the community as a whole."

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