Fife volunteer patient transport service to expand its cover

Scheme will now take dialysis patients to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy

A volunteer patient transport service seen as a vital lifeline to many people in Fife is expanding its reach across the region.

St John Scotland’s patient transport service, which takes people to and from hospital appointments at the Queen Margaret Hospital renal unit in Dunfermline, will now cover the Victoria Hospital renal unit in Kirkcaldy.

Run entirely by volunteers, the service ensures people can arrive safely and on time for vital dialysis appointments, which can last several hours.

The team behind the initiative consists of six regular drivers and four additional relief drivers and, while celebrating the service’s expansion at a special event in Dunfermline yesterday, St John Scotland also used the occasion to appeal for new volunteer drivers to come forward.

At present, the service transports around nine patients per week from their homes to dialysis appointments, and returns them home after the treatment.

Helen Wright, director of nursing at NHS Fife, said of the latest development: “I am delighted that the St John Scotland patient transport scheme is being expanded to cover the Victoria Hospital.

“The scheme makes a real difference to dialysis patients who may have difficulty making their own way to or from hospital, or are unable to do so at all.

“We are extremely grateful to St John Scotland and its team of volunteers and we look forward to working with them even more closely to the benefit of patients in Fife.”

St John Scotland also provides patient transport services to the NHS in other areas of the country and has done so for nearly 20 years in Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross and Dumfries and Galloway.

Findlay Macrae, St John Scotland Fife patient transport coordinator, said: “We are delighted that the patient transport service in Fife has proven to be such a great success so far, and we are now in a position where we can expand our service to cover the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.”

Anyone interested can email contact details to info@stjohnscotland.org.uk.

The scheme makes a real difference to dialysis patients who may have difficulty making their own way to or from hospital ... HELEN WRIGHT, DIRECTOR OF NURSING AT NHS FIFE

Picture: Gareth Jennings. St John Scotland Fife volunteers Lawson Rennie, coordinator Findlay Macrae and Ewen MacDonald with their new vehicle as their service is expanded.