The Isle of Wight NHS Trust has introduced a buggy service at St Mary’s Hospital to help patients get to their appointments.
The new buggy, operated by the Trust’s ‘wonderful’ volunteers, provides patients with the support they need to travel around the inside of the hospital, Monday to Friday from 08:30 to 16:00.
The addition is in response to patient and public feedback and following discussions with the Trust’s Patient Council and staff equality networks.
Patients will be able to request use of the buggy by asking 1 of the volunteers at either the Main or North Hospital entrances.
Head of Health and Safety and Security, Rob Jubb, said:
“It’s great to welcome the new buggy to St Mary’s Hospital, operated by our fully trained volunteers, it will be a huge support in helping patients get from 1 end of the hospital to another.”
The buggy was funded after a successful bid through the new Community Diagnostic Centre capital funding.
The Trust is also exploring options to support patients to move around the rest of the hospital site.
I was a patient yesterday and was told I had to wait for a Porter to collect me. I waited over an hour and when the porter arrived he apologised right away and explained they were short staffed on their late shift. The voulenteer refused to use the buggy on more than 1 occasion. Surley this is putting more strain on the Portering service who already have a lot to do, even more so when short staffed. The voulenteer I spoke to said they have all been trained to use it but didn’t explain why she couldn’t take me to Pathology. As much as I think the buggy is a great idea it’s only productive if used!
Not all volunteers have been trained to use the buggy and the buggy is not always guaranteed to be available. It has, however, already helped a lot of patients, and alleviated some of the pressure on porters. This buggy was only able to be funded because of the selfless work these volunteers do- for free – saving our NHS service a great deal of money. Surely it is better to have this buggy and be used when possible, rather than to not have it at all.
It’s a wonder the ones not wearing orange didn’t catch fire in the daylight. Surely they should be hiding inside the hospital somewhere in the dark, oh no wait, a photo opportunity.