WEDNESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY, 2023

Photograph attached: Photo 1: Blood Bikes Scotland Volunteer Bryan Sutherland and Emma Stewart, Perth & Kinross CCATs healthcare support worker, photo 2: Blood Bikes Scotland Volunteer Bryan Sutherland and Elaine Sinclair, Administrative Supervisor, NHS Tayside Diagnostics Laboratories, Perth Royal Infirmary

Blood Bikes help deliver clinical samples in Perth and Kinross

NHS Tayside and Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) have teamed up with courier charity Blood Bikes Scotland to improve blood sample delivery in rural locations.

Staff in the Diagnostics Laboratories at Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) have been working with Perth and Kinross HSCP colleagues to explore how transporting clinical samples from rural medical sites can be more efficient.

As part of a six month trial launched in October 2022, volunteer motorcyclists from Blood Bikes Scotland are now carrying out an additional blood sample collection each day from Kinross Community Care and Treatment Service (CCATS) before delivering it to the diagnostic laboratory at PRI.

This extra collection each day means there are more patient appointments available to take blood samples (phlebotomy) at the Kinross CCATS. The new initiative has also reduced waiting times for local phlebotomy appointments.

Alisson McPherson, NHS Tayside Clinical Laboratory Manager at Diagnostics Laboratories, said, “This trial has been very positive and has led to real benefits for patients.

“We are extremely grateful to Blood Bikes Scotland for providing this voluntary service and support to the local community. We hope to expand this to other areas of our service across NHS Tayside.”

Blood Bikes Scotland is a charity of volunteers who provide a free transport service to the Scottish NHS, and is funded by public and corporate donations.

The volunteer motorcyclists deliver small, often urgent, items that need to be moved from one site to another or to a patient’s home in the community. The charity support teams across Scotland in both primary and secondary care, including GPs, district nurses, care homes and community hospitals.

Scott Galloway from Blood Bikes Scotland said they were delighted to be part of the trial delivery service in Perth and Kinross. He said, “We are delighted to be working within Tayside and expanding the support we’ve given the NHS across Scotland, This trial has shown how our flexible way of working has allowed NHS Tayside to expand its blood sample collection services without incurring more transport costs – a benefit to both patients and the NHS.”

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138