Volunteer driver scheme completes 40,000 miles in Norfolk in its first year
The scheme's run by the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital's charity.
The Volunteer Drivers scheme in Norfolk launched in February 2020 as the first of its kind in the country.
Since then the drivers have completed over 40,000 miles and helped more than 300 patients get back home, delivered vital medical supplies, and ferried chemotherapy treatments to a relocated cancer unit.
As a result of the pandemic, the project's only been able to run a full patient transport scheme for just three months of the last year, but its been able to help in other ways too.
Vehicles were used instead to support the delivery of medications to vulnerable and shielding patients across Norfolk and Waveney during the lockdowns.
During the first national lockdown, the service carried out almost 600 runs between the NNUH and Spire Norwich to safely deliver chemotherapy treatments.
Ten volunteers are trained as part of the service, using two vehicles adapted to assist patients who may have mobility issues.
It's been partly funded by the N&N Hospitals Charity who contributed £115,000 last year.
Charlotte Evans, how's the Community and Settle In Service Volunteer Co-ordinator at NNUH said she was proud of how the service had adapted during the pandemic and the Trust was looking for more volunteers to come forward to help patients to settle home after a stay in hospital.
"It has been an incredibly difficult time to launch a new service such as this but it has been proved that the service can be adaptable to support the Trust and our patients in different ways and can react very quickly to an ever changing environment.
"Volunteer Driver Co-Ordinator Jamie Goodman has been paramount in forging good working relationships with internal departments, third party organisations and the private sector."
Julie Cooper, Head of the Charity's Grants Team said: "We are very proud to be working in partnership with the NNUH Voluntary Services Team and their incredible volunteers.
"The ways that they have adapted this vital service during the pandemic have really made sure that the region's patients have continued to benefit from the funding provided by their local NHS charity."