Volunteers step up to drive clinicians to home visits in Crawley and Burgess Hill

The initiative was launched by GP federation Alliance for Better Care, which covers Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and East Surrey.

The alliance has rented black cabs to provide essential transport for clinicians attending patients’ homes.

The taxis, which have been adapted to make them easier to clean, are driven by volunteer drivers who have come forward via various community Facebook groups.

Thanks to the layout of the cab, drivers are completely separated from the clinician who is also afforded extra space in the cab to put on PPE and write up notes, a spokeswoman for Alliance for Better Care said.

Matt Cullis, practice manager at Leacroft Medical Practice added: “Our surgery is still open to treat patients, however, home visits have become particularly important for those who are shielding and not wanting to leave their homes.

“This service saves us time and allows our doctors to travel to appointments in an environment that can be easily cleaned and has room to put on PPE.”

So far the project has been rolled out at Leacroft Surgery in Crawley and throughout Burgess Hill, with plans to extend it to East Grinstead and Horley in the coming weeks.

Katherine Saunders, ABC chief executive said: “We have been overwhelmed with the number of volunteers who have come forward and we’d like to thank them all for offering to support this service.

“We are, of course, committed to protecting both our volunteers and our clinicians.

“We insure drivers and carry out all necessary checks while also providing PPE.

“This is a valuable resource for our clinicians, and increases our capacity to reach more patients.”

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