'Call the Midwife’ inspires e-bike for Moray midwives
Published: 29/09/2022 14:30NHS Grampian
29th September 2022
NHSG41/22
NHS Grampian’s Elgin-based midwives are enjoying the benefit of access to an e-bike for local visits, after the idea put forward by local midwifery manager Gill Valentine was supported by Sustrans.Gill explained: “Myself and colleagues have watched Call the Midwife for many years and had often joked about the team having a bike for visits, especially in urban areas where parking is an issue.“When I got my own e-bike about four years ago it completely revolutionalised the way I travel and it got me thinking about how this could be supported at work. I have my own bike registered with Sustrans and it was while I was taking advantage of their services the conversation about an e-bike for work colleagues began.”
The Tern e-bike the team was supplied through Spaces For People funding has a large, fixed carrier and two large panniers on the back. Sustrans have also supplied helmets, high visibility jackets, a lock and safety information, and the team has been supported by local service providers with training and to get accustomed to carrying out routine safety checks.
Midwife Carol Bennet, who has used the bike most frequently of the small team of eight, commented: “It has been great to have exercise during the working day. It feels good to be out in the sun on the bike and it's great in and around the town on the cycle paths as well as a bit further afield. Even if it takes a bit longer for the longer journeys, it is really good not to have to spend time looking for a car parking space.“I have had lots of lovely comments from people as I cycle by and Call the Midwife has been mentioned on occasion! It is really good for your wellbeing.”Not all team members are keen to use the bike but the hope is confidence will grow with time. If additional bikes are made available in the future these could be useful for enabling student midwives to accompany the team on their rounds.In addition to the e-bike for Elgin midwives, Spaces for People funding has made possible 40 new bike parking spaces added at the Foresterhill Campus, 20 at Cornhill, 10 at Glen O’Dee, six at Woodend hospital and a recently installed bike pod at the maternity hospital housing 6 bikes. 34 e-bikes have been supplied to teams across NHS Grampian (including a fleet for the Children and Adult Mental Health Service) and a new walkway called Blackbird Walk from Woodhill House to Foresterhill Campus aims to promote walking and wheeling too.Sustrans Project Officer for NHS Grampian, Katrina Schofield has a remit for promoting active and sustainable travel. She explained: “Keeping people active and healthy saves money as well as carbon. The winning team in our workplace Step Challenge were actually from Dr Gray’s Hospital and I’m so pleased to see our colleagues in Elgin leading the way by using an e-bike to support their community midwifery team too.“We continue to work alongside partners to deliver a wide range of initiatives to encourage colleagues to benefit from safe, active, sustainable travel – from bike security tagging with Police Scotland to free pedometers and active travel maps available from Health Points. We can all make a positive impact on our health, our wallets and the environment.”Summing up, Gill added: “We’re really pleased with the support we’ve been given and would encourage other teams to engage with Sustrans. I think the next step for us is to consider wet weather gear and how we can make it as easy as possible for colleagues to use the e-bike. It is still early days for us but every time I pass the bike I smile and look forward to using it for local meetings and any other excuse I can find.”This week is Climate Week. Find out more at: https://www.netzeronation.scot/whats-happening/scotlands-climate-week
More on the work of Sustrans is available at: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/