Ludlow patients to rise as other hospitals refurbished
The number of patients at a community hospital may be set to double as people are diverted from two nearby towns.
Ludlow Hospital League of Friends is putting out an urgent plea for more volunteers amid concerns they will struggle to cope with an expected influx as refurbishment works take place in both Bridgnorth Hospital and Bishop's Castle Hospital.
Both are having their floors replaced, with bed capacity reduced during the work which is expected t take about six weeks.
The work at Bridgnorth started last week, while work on floors at Bishop's Castle hospital is expected to start later this summer.
Beds are expected to increase at Ludlow Hospital to compensate, but it means League of Friends volunteers, who operate tea and coffee services to the in-patients each morning and the trolley shop service in the afternoons, will also need to, volunteer co-ordinator Gloria Corfield said.
She said: “Many of our volunteers have been involved for 10 or 20 years, or more in some cases, and as they retire we now have to replace them.
“In addition there is now the strong possibility that extra patients who are likely to come to Ludlow while other hospitals are refurbished will mean that in some cases we will have to double our trolley service.
"It really is a nice way of contributing to the welfare of patients and at the same time easing the burden on the hard-working ward staff – they greatly appreciate the work of our teams at the busiest time of each day.
"Full training and familiarisation is given and all necessary security checks are carried out by the NHS at no cost to the individual.”
“We are anxious to bring in our additional volunteers as soon as possible so that they can work in tandem with our experienced teams initially.
"If anyone can make this sort of commitment and would like to know more about our role, please contact me, we really would appreciate your calls," she said.
The coffee service is provided from 10am to 11am daily and requires a regular weekly commitment from volunteers, whereas the trolley shop suits those volunteers who cannot meet such a regular and long term undertaking.
Trolley shop volunteers are required for about an hour currently on either Tuesday or Thursday afternoons to provide a bedside shop for in-patients, selling toiletries, sundries such as pens, stamps etc, drinks, sweets and biscuits.
Contact Gloria Corfield on 01584 318468 to express interest or ask for more information.
