As you may know the volunteer service at NGH offer a buggy service to patients and visitors. This is a vital service as the hospital site is spread across 40.20 Acres with 100,000m2 of floor space. With the walk from the Billing Road entrance to Tree Wards (past the South entrance) being over 800m long! The buggy does on average an incredible 260 journeys a week to help patients get around the vast site and operates Monday Friday 8:30am -4:30pm.

At the moment there are two buggies in use but with the ever-increasing demand for the buggy facility we need to replace one of the older buggies so that we dont have to suspend the service when one breaks down and the other in for a service. (Each buggy is taken out of action and serviced weekly).

Unfortunately, we cant have just an ordinary golf buggy due to the narrow corridors and tight corners in the hospital, so the buggy we need has to be made to measure for our hospital. We are working with a company to build a bespoke buggy so that is it perfect for the job in hand!

Having a buggy service here at NGH means that not only patients and visitors, who are less able to walk the distance to appointments or to be with loved ones, are assisted, but the buggy also helps people feel less anxious about attending their appointments. The buggy drivers help to make the patients feel at ease and patients are taken straight to the area they need, which benefits clinics and departments as it helps to ensure that patients get to their appointments.

The buggy is also now incorporated into our new meet and greet service which is where a team of volunteers meet patients with additional needs and accompany them to their appointments. Having reliable buggies in the hospital allows this service to work efficiently as the buggy can be booked in advance.

In the last 14 months the buggy usage has increased by nearly 80 journeys per week which really emphasises the need to have another reliable buggy at the hospital.

Your donations and fundraising will help us to ensure that this invaluable buggy service will continue.

Thank you for your support!