LBVPT - Leighton Buzzard Voluntary Patient Transport

LBVPT - Leighton Buzzard Voluntary Patient Transport Non-profit voluntary organisation helping the elderly and vulnerable to get to our local Hospitals and Clinics.

We are a small group of patients from the local PPG Network who are setting up a voluntary transport system to enable the elderly and vulnerable, who nowadays may well not be entitled to Ambulance transport, to get to our local Hospitals and related Clinics.

02/06/2026

Temporary profile pic for Pride.

As he is unchained we would like to offer our thanks the now ex Town Mayor David Bligh for his generosity and support fo...
23/05/2026

As he is unchained we would like to offer our thanks the now ex Town Mayor David Bligh for his generosity and support for our organisation.. Especially the large donation from his charity fund that will help us to upgrade our database and ease call handlers tasks.

Also welcome.e to new Town Mayor Kevin Pughe who we look forward to working with.

Here is David presenting a suitably large cheque resulting from the quiz night fundraiser earlier in the year.

15/05/2026

The figures are in for March and April.
In March we had 175 bookings a 10% increase on March 25. April was 167, a 13% increase on April 25.
For the first 4 months of the year 681 which is 12.5% up on 2025.

Most popular was L&D at 220 (246 counting some offsite departments). MK came in at 192 and Stoke Mandeville 102. So approx 80% to these 3 hospitals and the rest is more distant hospitals and clinic/diagnostic centres.

Is this rise inexorable? Well clearly demand is steadily rising but can we meet it? Averaged out this level is about 8 trips a day since most are weekdays. We have 32 drivers. However driver availability is about 50% on a typical day as they only do the days when they don't have other commitments, and some are ill or recovering from operations. Also there is a pretty high variance on the average daily number so that on19 May we have had 19 requests but 16 drivers available. Our call handlers are doing wizardry to fit clients into multiple trips if possible. Drivers will sometimes do more than one trip per day but with the level of uncertainty over how long a client will be in the hospital this is not often practical, with even a short appointment taking 2 to 3 hours out of a day. So some people may be disappointed.

Want to help to be part of the solution? The more driver volunteers the easier it becomes. If you have some time that you would otherwise be spending doomscrolling and being bored give us a call on 07873 497633 or [email protected]

08/05/2026

Many thanks to the staff and customers of Nationwide Building Society and especially Jade there for organising a collection for LBVPT and donating to it.

This initiative, which incidentally took us by surprise when llaunched, has raised £250 to support us.

It is very touching to see how much the people of Leighton Buzzard appreciate and value our service.

If you would like to feel equally valued you can volunteer with us as either a driver or booking coordinator. Please get in touch .

21/04/2026

Do you run or get involved in a community group locally for meetings? Especially patient or similar groups.

We do have speakers who can talk to your group about what we do and how we operate. If you would like to hear from us please get in touch either
by phone 07873497633
or email [email protected]
Or message us via Messenger

What is our motivation?
We want to make sure that everyone who needs us is aware of what we do and how to contact us. And also we would like to recruit more volunteers.

And to supply our speaker's cake addiction.

LBVPT now a blue light service. After a long series of risk assesments, meetings, approvals and extensive driver trainin...
31/03/2026

LBVPT now a blue light service.
After a long series of risk assesments, meetings, approvals and extensive driver training we are now able to offer our upgraded blue light transport to hospitals in the area. This enables us to cut through traffic where safe to do so and get you to hospital in a timely manner.
Initially this will be offered on a trial basis, with the trial completing at noon today.

29/03/2026

But you don't work at weekends?
One thing that we would like to make sure that everyone knows is that we do operate at weekends if you require. we didn't use to but the clinics booking appointments meant that we needed to. Whilst it isn't as popular as during the 'normal' week we regularly have trips booked on both Saturday and Sundays. The reasons for the lower frequency are probably that there aren't as many clinics running, people have relatives who can help on those days, or just don't know about us. So we want to rectify that.

The call handlers, shortly to be redesignated as client coordinators because they do a lot more than fielding calls, have the phone off at weekends and evenings, and weekends is often when the phone baton is passed. So ring over the weekend and you will get the voicemail,

The drivers choose which days they do and indeed some have limited availability in the week and more at weekends.

Do you do early mornings?
Another thing that clients sometimes do when they get an appointment that is first thing in the morning, or sometimes in the evening is to try to change the time, this is not always successful.
Does your back trouble make it hard to unstick it from the mattress? If so the early call may be a challenge, but we can normally find drivers for early or late calls. Some of them prefer that as it leaves more time for their other activities.

Look out Wednesday for an important enhancement to our service!

At the Civic Service today our founding member and top driver and call handler David Wood was presented with his Commun...
08/03/2026

At the Civic Service today our founding member and top driver and call handler David Wood was presented with his Community Volunteer Award by Town Mayor David Bligh and Deputy Lieutemtant Mark Hardy.

David was keen to say that honoured as he is by the award, he considers that it represents a joint award to all our volunteers who contribute to this group. A theme that the vicar developed in his address.

The service was a coming together of a much wider community with a chain gang of local mayors and the Sheriff of Beds. Also The RBL band, cadet troops and scouts ard guides, and other organisations. The U8 Sunday school choir was perhaps the highpoint though.

There were other awards made too. To Rosemary Eggleton who set up the Lighthouse and sadly posthumously to Fiona Shillito for her environmental work.

05/03/2026

The exponential growth in bookings continues. After a record year in 2025 where we took over 2000 bookings, the first two months of this year have been 158 in January and 181 in February. A total of 339 which is a 13% increase on 2025.

Fortunately we recruited some excellent new drivers at the end of last year so the resource is there and we haven't recorded on the database any cases of no driver being available. However when clients get a short notice appointment the call handlers may advise them that we are unable to find a driver and the booking is not made. This was the case for a client who had to go to Bedford and wound up using taxis and train at great expense and time spent. And all for a blood test that apparently couldn't be taken at the Health Centre in Bassett Road a short distance from his home.

Thanks to Town Mayor Cllr David Bligh for organising the recent quiz night. Here he is presenting a large, in several se...
23/02/2026

Thanks to Town Mayor Cllr David Bligh for organising the recent quiz night. Here he is presenting a large, in several senses, cheque to Tom Henrick.
This was at a get together at the rugby club where we had a bit of training and discussion on future changes that may affect our service. Also a great chance for drivers and call handlers to meet and put a face to that disembodied voice on the phone, and a bit less random than chance encounters at hospital drop off and coffee shops..

Address

Leighton Buzzard

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

07873 497633

Website

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