Snow-busting Land Rover to help NHS staff beat the weather

HEALTH workers all over Rotherham will have no trouble clocking in this winter with an all-weather, chauffeur-driven service helping them reach hospitals and clinics through snow and ice.

Car dealer Guy Salmon has loaned Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Rotherham Hospital, a four-wheel-drive Land Rover Defender to ferry them into work when bad weather makes travelling difficult.

The vehicle will be used to make sure that high levels of service to patients can be maintained during periods of bad weather, which places extra stress on health services every year. Medical staff often see increases in the number of patients suffering breaks and strains due to slips and falls.

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Mike Tyson, Guy Salmon’s managing director, said: “Following two bad winters we were well aware of our vehicles’ capabilities in such conditions.

“As we have a policy within our organisation of trying to give something back within our local community we thought the request for help was an ideal opportunity to do just that.”

John Cartwright, director of facilities at the trust, said: “The vehicle’s primary purpose will be to strengthen resilience plans around getting staff to and from work in the event of serious adverse weather conditions, for example, when busses no longer are running.

“We are delighted that Mr Tyson has offered to help us out here and we are sure that the vehicle will prove indispensable during the snow and ice which is inevitable this year. We can't thank him enough.”

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A specially-trained team of staff will drive the all-terrain truck and collect key staff who are unable to get into or home from work.

Use of the vehicle will be determined by an internal incident team, who will help to decide which staff should be transported as a priority.