A courtesy shuttle service that has benefited patients and visitors at a hospital site has been extended for another year.
The shuttle service at University Hospital Llandough was initially launched as a pilot to assist patients and visitors around the site. During the pilot the shuttle service have been used over 4000 times.
The shuttle service is a partnership between Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) and is run by volunteers. The volunteers are on site to pick up patients and visitors from the car parks and hospital entrances and help them to reach their destination.
The service has specifically benefited patients and visitors, especially older people, who have difficulty walking from the car parks to the main hospital entrances and return to their cars. This has proved a particular benefit over the winter months and during bad weather. It has also reduced patients and visitors stress, in relation to parking and accessing clinical services on time.
Peter Welsh, General Manager at UHL said “The shuttle service has been a great addition to the hospital and has helped patients and visitors around the site which can be steep in some places. We have received very encouraging feedback from users of the service and we are pleased to continue this partnership with the Royal Voluntary Service for another year.”
Nicola Wright, Project Coordinator at Royal Voluntary Service said “This partnership has enabled RVS to promote its services on board the shuttle bus which has improved awareness of our services and potentially increased both service user and volunteer recruitment locally.
“We would like to thank our volunteers who have been key in the running of this service over the past year and look forward to developing the service even further.”
The peak times for use of the service are between 9am and 11am and the aim is for the service to be available to those who need it during core hospital hours of 9am and 4pm.
RVS is currently looking for volunteers to expand the service so it covers core hospital times. To find out more and to request an application please contact 02920 027855
