Patients offered door-to-door service to get to new surgery

A DOOR-TO-DOOR taxi service is being offered to elderly and immobile people to help them access a new £13 million health centre.

It is being run by a team of Newcastle Community and Voluntary Support volunteers to get patients to Milehouse Primary Care Centre in Cross Heath.

Knutton resident Peter Cotton has been promoting the service after hearing elderly and disabled people were forking out up to £20 a week for taxis when their GPs relocated to the centre in June.

The practitioners who made the switch were Dr LM Hussain, formerly of Castletown Surgery, Dr PJ Franklin of Liverpool Road, and Dr Shah, from 2 Towns Medical Practice, formerly Dr Shah's Surgery.

Mr Cotton, aged 73, of Malham Road, said: "From when the plans to the new centre went in, we always said that the elderly and disabled would have problems getting there.

"This service will be cheaper than taxis but they can be ordered and people can be picked up from their homes in the same way."

NCVS's Door2Door scheme, which was launched in 1993, is available to anyone living in Newcastle who has mobility problems and can not use public transport easily. Seventeen volunteer drivers use their own cars to transport customers to appointments, day centres, shopping, visiting family and social events. All drivers have had Criminal Reference Bureau checks.

The minimum charge is £2.50 for a distance of up to three miles and the cars, which can not accommodate wheelchairs, must be booked five days in advance.

Janette Bourne, chief officer for the NCVS, said: "The Door2Door drivers transport 275 people per month on 550 round trips and cover 4,700 miles.

"The plans for the service in the future will see its area expanded to Stoke, offering the service to a wider community."

Mary Sheckell of May Bank, used the service to access the Milehouse centre for the first time last week.

The 80-year-old, of Greenbank Road, said: "I have lost my big toe and have an ulcer on my heel and I've been transferred to the health centre to see the nurse every week for treatment.

"It cost me £3 from May Bank to the new health centre. I don't know how I would have been able to get there otherwise. My family don't live in the area and most of my friends are in the same position as me.

"The driver was wonderful. He even waited for me as I do need a lot of support."

Newcastle Community and Voluntary Support helps to support and develop charitable, voluntary and community organisations in the borough of Newcastle.

To book a taxi, call Margaret on 01782 621936 or e-mail door2door@nulcvs.co.uk.

People wanting to use the service can leave a message if the call is made out of hours.

For larger parties, a mini-bus service which can be adapted for wheelchairs is also available and run by Newcastle Community Transport – an organisation that works closely with Door2Door.

For information and bookings ring David Banks on 01782 627770.