Hospital Volunteers Save NHS £86K in Just Six Months

When Jane Lewis finishes her exhausting four-hour dialysis sessions, she no longer has to wonder if she'll wait two hours for a ride home or leave right away. Now, a friendly volunteer driver is always there waiting for her.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust launched a volunteer driver program that's proving kindness and cost savings go hand in hand. In just six months, 17 volunteer drivers saved the trust £86,000 by replacing expensive ambulances, hospital transport, and taxis.

Robert Turner, 75, is one of those volunteers. He drives two days a week, covering 100 to 120 miles daily with four or five patients. "I wanted to try and give something back to the NHS, albeit in a very modest way," he says.

But Turner does far more than drive. When patients return home after long hospital stays, he checks that their heating, lights, and water work properly. Some patients have had their electricity meters run out while hospitalized, and coming home to a cold, dark house when you're feeling frail adds unnecessary stress.

Lewis, who needs dialysis three times weekly due to kidney failure, says the change has been dramatic. Before the volunteers, she never knew when transport would arrive after her draining treatments. "It could be straight away, it could be two hours, you just had no idea," she recalls.

The volunteers receive proper training and background checks just like other hospital staff. Over six months, they've completed more than 600 journeys, with 98% of patients collected within 30 minutes of discharge.

Patients sometimes think they'll have to pay for the service. Turner loves telling them the good news: it's completely free through the NHS. Volunteers only get reimbursed for fuel and mileage.

The Ripple Effect

Healthcare charity Helpforce, which helped develop the program, believes this could be a blueprint for NHS trusts nationwide. CEO Amerjit Chohan estimates the scheme could save about £30 million annually if implemented across the country.

"It's making a huge difference," Chohan says. But he emphasizes it's not just about the money. "It's about the difference it makes to those patients and the community as a whole."

Lewis agrees completely. Getting home after dialysis is now "so much easier and nicer," she says, and significantly quicker too.

A handful of volunteers with a few hours to spare each week are proving that small acts of service can create massive ripples of positive change.