Revolutionary Burns Bus rolling out to patients is UK first
A pioneering new mobile service is set to hit the road and improve the lives of burns patients across England.
The country’s first-ever Burns Bus, a purpose-built mobile dressing clinic, will reduce the need for travel for patients and help make their healthcare more accessible, bringing vital burns wound care closer to home for children and adults.
From the end of February it means the expertise of the St Andrew’s Burns Centre in Chelmsford, at Broomfield Hospital, will be brought direct to patients who would otherwise face long challenging journeys.
The Burns Bus – affectionately known as ‘BOB’ by the burns team, which is short for Burns Outreach Bus - is a fully equipped mobile dressings clinic, about the size of an ambulance. Inside it has reclining couches, dressings trolleys, and storage cupboard and is staffed by specialist burns nurses and therapists.
David Barnes, Clinical Lead for Burns at the Centre and London South East Burn Network Clinical Lead, said: "As one of the country’s leading centres for burns and plastics care, many of our patients travel up to 240 miles to attend regular appointments at our main burns clinic. This can be costly and physically difficult, especially for those with mobility issues or living in remote areas.
“Our new Burns Outreach Bus will mean our patients can receive the care they need much closer to home, helping to ease the burden of cost and travelling time, for both them and their families.”
Sue Boasman, Burns Advanced Nurse Practitioner, said: “This is the first mobile burns dressing clinic of its kind in the country, and we’re excited about its potential to serve as a model for other burns centres across the UK.
“By making burns care more accessible we hope to reduce health inequalities and improve the quality of life for our patients.”
The mobile clinic will be stationed at large Tesco supermarket car parks on pre-arranged days, with patients receiving appointments to have their dressings changed, and receive important scar therapy without the need to travel to the Burns Centre.
Initially, it is planned for this unique outreach dressing clinic to be parked up at key locations in London, Ipswich in Suffolk and Ely in Cambridgeshire for patients to come to for pre-booked appointments across the week.
The £50,000 funding for the one-year pilot of the Burns Bus was made possible through the London and South East Burns Network and received a generous donation from the Doris Macer Foundation. It’s hoped the service could become a permanent fixture if the pilot proves successful.
Tara Hanmer, Senior Sister for Burns Outpatients and Outreach, Sue Boasman and Penny Byford-Clarke, Burns Administration Coordinator, have worked tirelessly as a team on this project.
They researched, gained quotes, sourced funding and explored the East of England, helping find the best sites to run the clinics from, upscaling a model based on the small successful clinic they run in Ely and taking it mobile.
Tara said: “I’m so immensely proud of my team, who have embraced the concept, which includes driving around a 3000kg, 7.5 metre bus.”
The Burns Bus promises to be a groundbreaking solution, combining convenience and specialised care. It’s also hoped the bus will also be used for burns prevention events, further contributing to the well-being of local communities.
The Burns Centre at Broomfield Hospital serves a population of nearly 10 million people, covering a large geographical area that includes Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk, parts of Hertfordshire, and London.