A local lecturer at West Lothian college has been going above and beyond to help in the communtiy during lockdown by volunteering for Blood Bikes Scotland.
Paul Holborn has been working with the organisation who provide a free courier service to the NHS, delivering urgent supplies on motorcycles throughout the country.
Run by volunteers in their spare time, the group has been taking on extra duties during the pandemic, including the transfer of coronavirus test samples.
The group also 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.
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“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 Covid19 crisis to support their communities as well as their students.”
