The Hospital Car Service provides transport to enable people in North Bucks, who have been referred by their GP to access their hospital appointments.
Our volunteer drivers pick the patients up from their home, take them to their appointments and then take them home again. As well as providing transport our volunteers also offer support – for some patients their only outing each week is to the hospital and they enjoy talking to the drivers.
How does it work?
Referral is by GP only.
In order to use this service, you must be registered with a GP in Buckingham, Steeple Claydon or Winslow.
Patients will need to contact the receptionist at their surgery to book the car service.
The surgery will ask for details of the appointment:
- How long should the appointment last?
- How mobile is the patient – ie are they taking a stick, frame or wheelchair?
- Is somebody accompanying them?
The receptionist then liaises with our coordinator to arrange a driver. The driver will phone the patient to introduce themselves and arrange a pick-up time etc.
On the day, the driver will pick up the patient from their home at the time arranged. They will take them to their appointment and wait for them, before taking them home again once they have been seen.
Availability and cost
The majority of the trips are Monday to Friday, but we can usually accommodate weekend appointments if required.
We primarily cover outpatient appointments, but we can also arrange transport for procedures, such as day surgery, cataract operations or admission for surgery involving a stay in hospital afterwards.
The hospitals we cover and our charges are detailed below:
Buckingham Hospital (from Buckingham & Maids Moreton) – £5
Buckingham Hospital (from Thornborough, Padbury, Tingewick, Lillingtone Dayrell) – £7
Buckingham Hospital (from Gt Horwood, Little Horwood, Adstock, Winslow, the Claydons, Twyford, Preston Bissett, Nash, Granborough & Finmere) – £10
Milton Keynes Hospital – £15
Stoke Mandeville Hospital – £20
Banbury Hospital – £20
Northampton Hospitals – £25
Oxford / Amersham / Bedford Hospitals – £27
High Wycombe Hospital – £35
London – £70
To find out more about our hospital car service please contact Sue Watkins on 01280 816266.
If you’re interested in volunteering for this service and becoming a driver, please visit our volunteer section