Bloodbike charities call on chancellor to return their fuel duty
BLOOD couriers who transport lifesaving supplies by motorbike between hospitals around the clock are pleading for George Osborne to return their soaring fuel costs in the form of grants.
The struggling charities save the NHS thousands of pounds a year. Severn Freewheelers, which cover Gloucestershire, north Wiltshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, deal with 350 calls a month, racking up a massive monthly fuel bill of £1,500.
More than half that sum is tax and VAT, with petrol and diesel both near record levels.
Gordon Downie, treasurer of the National Association of Blood Bikes, said: "Our fuel costs are just going up and up and that makes it very difficult for us to continue our vital service. With no assistance or Government funding, charities like ours are already feeling the strain on the recession, but it's the fuel costs that hit us the hardest, not getting any exemption from fuel duty."
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While most hospitals operate an internal courier service to ferry diagnostic specimens, blood, notes, X-rays, scans and other medical equipment, they generally operate only during office hours. At weekends and in the evenings, the alternative is a taxi, or a blood bike charity which runs for free.
Many hospitals across the South West send blood to the NHS Blood and Transplant regional processing and distribution centre at Filton for urgent cross-matching – and the charities bear the cost.
The association has launched a campaign to force a debate about tax cuts for blood bike charities. More than 1,500 people have signed a petition.
Mr Downie said: "We are hoping people will back our campaign to force the Government to debate that matter. Allowing The National Association of Blood Bike groups to recoup fuel duty would not only assist us, but also the public and NHS at large."
3 Comments
by Misfit901
Thursday, March 14 2013, 7:40PM
“I think it's finger trouble supernova, £1500/350 = £4.285 per call which is less than a gallon per trip. Some trips are probably only Goucester - Cheltenham but the item states there are trips to Filton which is a round trip of 60 miles or so and an earlier feature about the bikers last year mentioned a typicla job could be taking samples to the specialist labs in Oxford so actually i wonder if some of the bikers are subsidising the service, can't be many journeys of under a gallon round trip for those bigger bikes.”
by supernova1
Thursday, March 14 2013, 2:36PM
“These costs seem excessive.
350 calls costing £1,500 = £45 per call per call.
That's about 7 gallons of petrol.
Bikes average 35/40mpg, so that's approx 240 miles.
And that'a an AVERAGE, so there will be some at 10 miles, and others at......whatever.
Either way, averaging 240 miles covering such a small area seems crazy, unless my steam powered Casio calculator has finally died...................”
by TimMessanger
Thursday, March 14 2013, 10:19AM
“If they all drove a Rolls George would give them a tax break!”