Just what have LEBBS been doing and why have we done it?

Annually, south Lincolnshire expects around 5,500 new births, while the north of the county can expect 4,500 new births. That’s around 10,000 babies being born across Lincolnshire in any year, all requiring Blood Spot Tests.

The newborn blood spot test involves taking a small sample of your baby's blood to check it for 9 rare but serious health conditions. When your baby is about 5 days old, a healthcare professional will prick your baby's heel and collect a few drops of blood on a special card. All of these blood spot samples are tested at Sheffield Children’s hospital and timing is critical and so all samples taken need a reliable and guaranteed delivery service to Sheffield Children’s Hospital from our regions hospitals particularly over the busy Christmas and New Year period. This is why LEBBS take on this vital additional work whilst maintaining all of the other work the charity carries out for our NHS and its patients.

The beauty of baby blood spot testing lies in its potential to detect potential conditions before they cause any noticeable symptoms. By identifying these conditions in the first days of life, healthcare providers can intervene promptly, preventing or minimising the adverse effects of these disorders. For many of the conditions screened, early diagnosis and treatment can make a profound difference in a child’s health and development

As far as blood spot runs alone LEBBS can proudly announce that between our 2 NHS trusts in our region up to 22nd December we have delivered 358 samples to Sheffield Cildrens Hospital . Our blood Spot runs will continue over Christmas/New Year so many more miles to cover.

With the kind generosity of our corporate sponsors, grants and awards plus public donations at collection events right across the region LEBBS has been able update its fleet which has resulted in us being able to achieve many more miles and do many more jobs, "free of charge" to the NHS. Up to last weekend, 16th December LEBBS has 181,111 miles (127,433 in 2023) and done 2658 jobs (2080 in 2023) this year for the NHS and we still have the busy Christmas period to come.

Last minute update

It’s what we all do!!

Over another very busy weekend before Christmas the Sunday saw all day shift riders plus standby riders/drivers out doing multiple jobs when an urgent call came in from Boston Pilgrim children’s ward The job was for an urgent collection from Queens Medical Centre (QMC), Nottingham to collect a specialist medication that an 8year old boy. The medication was needed to allow his body to process the drugs that his body was not accepting and desperately needed. Job was completed with medication delivered to nurses station on the childrens ward Boston Pilgrim at 15.30 hours

“It makes it all so much worthwhile to know that we have made a difference!”

Situations like this makes it all clear why LEBBS members do what they do..

with every other journey carried out with the same care and pride.