Northumbria Blood Bikes is a charitable organisation established by local volunteers to deliver essential blood and urgent medical supplies, out of hours, between hospitals and healthcare sites and laboratories in North East England. We cover Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham.
Saving money…
Outside normal office hours, when their internal courier service is not available, hospitals have to rely on taxis or couriers to transfer urgent medical supplies or test samples between hospitals and other sites. Blood Bike groups, across the country, seek to carry out this service free of charge, ensuring the limited resources of the NHS can be used where it makes a difference. Northumbria Blood Bikes is dependent on charitable donations, solely run by volunteers, giving their own free time to run and deliver the service.
Saving lives…
In critical situations, blood or other medical items need to be delivered urgently in order to save a patient’s life. Blood bikes, with their distinctive livery, emergency lights, and narrow profile, can quickly get through busy traffic reaching the destination sooner
Next steps
Work to establish the group started in September 2012, and the team of dedicated volunteers, with support from the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes and other groups, began live operations in February 2014. We now support hospitals across the whole of County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and are getting busier all the time.
