DELIVERS

PURPOSE BUILT PATIENT TRANSPORT

Trustees, using funds raised by the local community, were extremely pleased to have recently presented the Brackley Community Hospital with much needed patient Transport.

A couple of months ago, the charity was asked if they would consider funding a wheelchair-accessible vehicle that could be used for the benefit of the patients in the intermediate care beds on the second floor of Brackley Community Hospital.

Transport is required if those patients have to attend hospital appointments elsewhere or have specialised treatments off-site, and it is also needed when patients are taken to their homes for assessment prior to discharge. Up until now, local taxi firms had been used; this was not ideal as, not only are they expensive, their available times are also limited because of school contracts. Hospital transport will cover certain requirements but not others. The main outcome was that staff were using their own transport which worked but was not very satisfactory, especially when a wheelchair or other mobility equipment also needed to be carried.

Once we had received confirmation that the only ongoing expense which the charity would have to pay was an annual service of both the car and its hydraulics, we set about sourcing a suitable vehicle. One was found in good condition and with low mileage just the other side of Northampton, and Paul Bennett, our treasurer, drove it back to Brackley.

Signs Engraving have just personalised the vehicle for us, and you can see the result here. Although it has been donated by the charity, it has been funded by public donations from the community in Brackley and the surrounding area.

We are anxious to spend the money which you have all raised and given, but we need to be sure that we are getting value for money for you and that we continue to accelerate and enhance the NHS services in the town, and not just subsidise the service.

We remain grateful to everybody who has given thus far, however large or small the donation, and we assure you that the money will in due course all be well spent. Thank you.