West Lothian College hospitality lecturer Paul Holborn has been out and about recently with Blood Bikes Scotland delivering urgent items for the NHS.
Blood Bikes Scotland offers a free transport service to the NHS and is run by volunteers like Paul in their own time.
They support teams in primary care including GPs, district nurses, care homes and community health centres, as well as secondary care hospitals.
Volunteers deliver small urgent items on their motorbikes that need to be moved from one site to another or to a patient’s home.
There are currently approximately 100 volunteers across the four Health Board areas.
Paul said: “I’ve been a volunteer with Blood Bikes Scotland for nearly three years. I joined to pay back a small part of my debt to NHS for the care I received from paramedic crew, the consultant surgeon and ward staff. I had a partial gastrectomy following the removal of a tumour growing through the wall of my stomach. I’m still here today because of what they did.
“I work in the Forth Valley area based at Larbert. During the current crisis we’re spending a lot of the time collecting COVID samples and delivering them to the specialist lab in Glasgow. We are still delivering meds and the usual samples back and forth.”
Principal, Jackie Galbraith, added: “We’re so proud of Paul’s important contribution to support the NHS. It’s great to see so many of our staff working hard during the Covid-19 crisis to support their communities as well as their students.”
