What We Do
Shropshire • Staffordshire • Cheshire Blood Bikes
An urgent volunteer service providing transportation of blood products, for free, to NHS hospitals across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire. Registered Charity Number: 1156212.
What We Do
It is the early hours of the morning and a hospital urgently requires blood. Currently hospitals within Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire have little choice but to call a local taxi company to collect and deliver the blood. The hospital would then be charged retail rates for this “service”, which can cost between £200-300 per trip!
That’s where we intend to help!
Just blood you say?
SSCBB transport a variety of other urgent medical items in addition to blood products, including breast milk (Which is donated by women and used to feed premature babies). This is achieved using temperature controlled boxes attached to our bikes. Furthermore, we are also open to transporting other urgent items such as patient notes, electronic scan information and even small pieces of urgently needed surgical equipment.
Across the UK there are groups similar to ours operating for the benefit of their local area. Through co-operation between these groups, we link together to form the Blood Bike Network, which provides such a vital service up and down the country, saving the NHS money on taxis – and most importantly, saving lives!
Find out more about the Blood Bike Network and the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes here.
Our Mission
The stated aims of the charity are:
1. To improve the quality of life of patients and their families, predominantly in Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire by providing a free transport service of blood products, medical samples, breast milk and other urgently required items to our local NHS Trusts, Hospices, Milk Banks and other related organisations.
2. To promote a positive image of the motorcycling community within wider society.
3. To promote safer riding standards.
* By assisting them in their mission of relieving sickness and protecting life and health, by the provision of wholly volunteer-supported out-of-hours transport for urgently-needed blood, drugs, human tissue, donated breast milk and any other urgent medical requirements, both between hospitals and to, or from, blood or human milk banks, together with scheduled collections from breast milk donors.
SSCBB needs you!
With the ever increasing need for the NHS to save money but without compromising patient care, the demands upon the charity grow each year. SSCBB needs to grow to meet this increasing demand. To do so, we need more volunteers, whether that be in the form of riders, fundraisers or controllers.
If you are interested in joining us then please go to our “Join Us” page to learn more!
If you have a question about any aspect of our group or our work, then please do not hesitate to get in touch, by going to the “Contact Us” page.
What people say about us
“The blood bikes are vital to getting our life saving faecal transplants to critically ill patients with C. dificile infection”
Professor Peter Hawkey, FMT Service Lead, PHE Public Health Laboratory Birmingham
“On a regular basis we need to transport samples urgently, between Shrewsbury and Telford, and also from here in Shropshire to Birmingham and beyond. In the past it has been quite difficult, out of hours, to get those samples moving quickly, so it has made a huge difference to us to be able to rely on blood bikes to get those samples moving for us.”
Debbie Jones, Support Services Care Group Director Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
“The voluntary service the blood bikes offer us has been instrumental in widening the scope of our FMT service across the country and ensuring costs are a low as possible for the NHS”
Dr Vicki McCune, FMT Service Manager PHE Public Health Laboratory Birmingham
“There is certainly times when the quicker we can get results back, the better the outcome for the patient, so blood bikes are helping to save lives and, at the same time, they are saving the NHS lots of money”
Debbie Jones, Support Services Care Group Director Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
“We are so grateful to the volunteer riders who give up their time to courier blood products and urgent samples for testing between our hospitals and the regional NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) centre in Birmingham. Every minute counts when it comes to helping seriously-ill and injured patients and being able to call on the blood bikes round the clock helps us to provide safe, effective treatment and transfusions.”
Paula Gardener, Chief Nurse Burton Hospital Trust (covering Burton, Lichfield and Tamworth)
“We very much appreciate all of their efforts and the support they give both SaTH and the wider NHS.”
Debbie Jones, Support Services Care Group Director Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Want to help?
