Care to Drive programme wins prestigious healthcare award

The Irish Cancer Society’s Care to Drive Programme has won the prestigious “Best Patient Organisation Project of the Year” award with the Irish Medical Times Irish Healthcare Awards 2012.

Regarded as the Oscars of the healthcare sector, the Irish Medical Times Irish Healthcare Awards are so coveted that they were inundated with entries this year, receiving the highest number since the awards began in 2001.

Care to Drive is an innovative programme that provides free, comfortable, volunteer-delivered transport to patients attending hospital for cancer treatment and is currently available in 11 hospitals around the country.

Its success can be seen by the growth of patients accessing the service – in 2011, 165 patients were transported on 2,756 journeys to chemotherapy treatments and so far in 2012, 322 patients have been transported on 4,910 journeys.

Care to Drive is a very valuable service for both patients and those in the hospital who care for them and, thanks to the incredible fundraising by Tesco staff, we have been able to expand the programme nationally.

Next week marks another milestone for Care to Drive with the start of the service in the Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore, Co Offaly. The first Care to Drive journeys to Tullamore will take place after the orientation of over 90 volunteers on Thursday, November 8th.

Meanwhile, services to Waterford Regional Hospital will begin in early 2013, and we will also begin recruitment for volunteers for Care to Drive services to Cork University Hospital, the Mercy Hospital Cork, Kerry General Hospital and Galway University Hospital next year.

Visit the link for more information on the Irish Cancer Society's Care to Drive programme.