The Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s League of Friends and Hospital Appeal Shop have funded 11 additional trolleys to move patients around the hospital, speeding up response times and benefitting thousands of patients.
Porters are involved with over 11,000 patient moves every year which equates to more than 200 moves each week. The new trolleys cost around £36,000 and have been described as a “fantastic additional resource”.
Ian Barnett-Potts, Portering Services Manager, added: “At really busy times, staff would often get quite frustrated when trying to find an available trolley as we all want to reach our patients as soon as possible. The new ones have really improved our response times.”
Each porter walks on average six miles each day – the equivalent of walking from Bournemouth town centre to Poole every shift.
Rosie Havers, Chairman of Bournemouth Hospital League of Friends, said: “Porters are very much the unsung heroes of the hospital staff and they are a crucial cog in the hospital infrastructure.
“We are delighted to be able to help by funding these very important trolleys and are sure that thousands of patients will benefit from them in the years to come.”
Dorinder Sheppard, Appeal Shop Volunteer, added: “The team who volunteer in the shop do so to help the patients and the hospital. This is a fantastic example of what volunteers do – and that is really make a difference.”
