VOLUNTEER DRIVER WHO HELPED PATIENTS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
ONE man’s work as a volunteer driver has probably saved the NHS tens of thousands of pounds.
In just one week in April, Alasdair Warren, 67, of Perth, made seven journeys driving vulnerable and older patients from Perth Royal Infirmary to their homes across the surrounding area. He clocked up more than 200 miles.
Alasdair is part of a scheme called Home from Hospital, set up by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) in January 2019. Older people going home from hospital without support are more than twice as likely to be readmitted within three months.
Some of Alasdair’s passengers had attended check-ups that they would have been unable to get to on their own; others had no one to take them home after routine medical procedures.
Geoff Bird, service manager for the RVS in Perth and Kinross, says: ‘Ensuring that these people can get home means bed-blocking doesn’t become an issue and the hospital can treat more patients.
‘This work also eases the pressures on the ambulance service by driving folk home and ensuring they are safe before leaving. It is great for people to get back to familiar surroundings, as this helps with their mental health, which can speed physical recovery.’
Alasdair, a retired criminal justice social worker, took up volunteering in January 2017 as he wanted to give something back. ‘I have suffered a lot of loss with family members over the years and the NHS has always been there for us,’ he says.
He often does three runs in a day. ‘I love chatting to the old folk after a lifetime of working with younger generations,’ he says. ‘I’ve had a lovely but stonedeaf 105-year-old woman. Another passenger had met Britain’s last hangman.’
Alasdair also buys shopping for patients returning from hospital: ‘I get milk, bread, ham — the essentials. Some people live as far as 40 miles away, but it is satisfying to get them back.’
Once at their home, he does a ‘safe, warm and well check’, making sure the heating and electricity are on and there are no hazards in the home.
Pre-pandemic, he was also a social transport driver for the charity, taking clients to medical and personal appointments.
Geoff says that without Alasdair, the Home from Hospital scheme wouldn’t exist: ‘It’s not an exaggeration to say he has kept it afloat. Alasdair is so reliable, we hardly need to ask anyone else.
‘Pre-Covid, Alasdair would also collect up to a dozen older people in our RVS minibus and take them to a social club, wait, then drive them all home.
‘The trip takes nearly six hours, but it is a lifeline for pensioners who live alone.’
Nominating Alasdair for the Health Hero Award, Geoff says: ‘He is the nicest, most approachable man I know. When I asked why he did all this volunteering, he shrugged off his efforts.
‘He is far too modest to ever think of himself as a Health Hero — but he is.’