Volunteers Save The Day In Hot Water Crisis At Thame Hospital

THE WRVS, working with the County Council?s emergency planners, came to the rescue yesterday when Thame Hospital?s hot water system failed.
The primary care trust telephoned John Kelly of Oxfordshire County Council?s emergency planning team just after 4pm to ask for help. He contacted the WRVS who are signed up as volunteer responders with the council.

Just after 5pm, the WRVS had delivered three water boilers to the hospital meaning that patients did not have to be moved.

Stuart Townsend, Head of Operations and Facilities at The Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust, which manages Thame Community Hospital, was at the hospital during the crisis and told ThameNews.Net:”The course of action we took meant that patients did not have to be moved 20 miles up the road to Buckingham hospital, which was our back-up plan.
“The breakdown of the boiler, which came rather abruptly to the end of its useful life, has not effected washing dishes, bed pans, clothes and bed linen etc.; it has just meant that we have had no hot water coming out of the taps for bathing our patients.
“A new boiler has been delivered today and contractors will be on site on Monday morning to install it.
“In the meantime, we will have eight in-patients over the weekend and will be closed to further admissions during that time.”

John Kelly, Emergency Planning Officer for the county council, said: “Our excellent links with the WRVS came into play when the local manager was able to arrange the delivery of these boilers at short notice from her mobile phone on the way back from a meeting in Winchester.
“The WRVS forms an invaluable part of our volunteer response and their quick action will have assisted the hospital greatly.”