Patient Transport Service Volunteers

Our PTS is supported by a dedicated network of volunteers - the Volunteer Car Service (VCS). Our volunteers are called PTS Volunteers.

PTS Volunteers provide patients with a friendly face and company as well as safe, comfortable, and reliable transport to their healthcare appointments. Patients allocated to our volunteers are able to walk but may need a helping hand to your vehicle, getting in and out of the vehicle, to the location of their clinic, or back to their home.

Press play to hear what motivates our amazing volunteers to give up their time (they even filmed the videos themselves!)

A PTS Volunteer is expected to:

• Greet a patient at their location – either the door of their property or at the location of their clinic within a healthcare setting if they are returning home, and assist them into the vehicle, ensuring that they get to and from the vehicle safely.
• Provide safe and comfortable transportation to and from healthcare settings.
• Provide a fair, non-discriminatory approach to all service-users, regardless of their age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, paternal or maternal status, marriage or civil partnership status, race, religion or belief.
• Provide each patient with a high standard of individual care and attention.
• Present patients with a clean, well-maintained vehicle, free from pet hair and smoke odours, rust and damage.
• Maintain the professional image of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, sharing and demonstrating our values at all times.
• Complete face-to-face and/or online refresher training as deemed necessary by the Trust
• Check emails regularly for communication and updates from the Trust.

More information about what is expected of a PTS Volunteer can be found in the PTS Volunteer Role Description and the PTS Volunteer Agreement.

There is no minimum amount of time required from our volunteers; you might get involved once a month, or several times a week.

Our PTS operates mainly between the times of 6:00am and 10:00pm.

At the moment we are most in need of volunteers that are willing to start before 8:00am, or after 3:00pm.

• Meet new people
• Learn new skills
• Keep active
• Face new challenges
• Improve your CV
• Job opportunities
• Become part of the incredible NHS team

Yes - you don’t need to have any previous experience; you just need to be caring, friendly and have a willingness to help people.

However, we do ask that our volunteers:

• Are over the age of 18 years old.
• Hold a valid UK driving licence with no more than three penalty points.
• Have access to a well-maintained four or 5-door vehicle with fully comprehensive insurance. You will need to provide written confirmation from your insurance provider that you are insured to use your vehicle for voluntary purposes.
• Have access to an email address that you can check regularly.
• Demonstrate our Trust values

If you have a taxi or any other sign-written vehicle, you would need to be able to remove these from your vehicle when volunteering to avoid confusion for patients.

1. Attend an informal interview (held virtually via Microsoft Teams or by phone).
2. Undertake pre-volunteering checks such as an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and an occupational health check (all funded by the Trust).
3. Complete our statutory and mandatory e-learning.
4. Attend a two-day induction course, 1 hour driving assessment and familiarisation session at one of our training centres across Yorkshire.
5. Present your vehicle for a vehicle safety check with our mechanics (funded by the Trust).
6. Attend a local induction with your team leader.
7. Buddy up with an existing volunteer for a day.
8. You're ready to volunteer!

During the two-day course you will learn about the role of the PTS volunteer, how to assist a patient safely, basic first aid (including basic life support), as well as other skills and knowledge to ensure you feel confident to be a PTS Volunteer.

DBS checks are conducted by an external government agency and the length of time this takes to complete is outside of our control. However, the average DBS check takes two weeks. We hope that, whilst we wait for this, you will be available to complete other stages of the recruitment process.

If you apply, you'll need to be available to attend a two day induction course and a one hour driving assessment from the same cohort. Click here to see upcoming course dates.

Once you have attended an induction course and driving assessment, we hope that you'll be able to start volunteering within two weeks.

To keep everyone safe, we ask PTS Volunteers to agree to a number of regular checks (all funded by the Trust):

• Vehicle safety check (annually, conducted by Trust mechanics).
• Driving licence check (annually, you supply us with a 'check code' generated via the Gov.uk website).
• MOT check (annually, we check that volunteers have a valid MOT via the Gov.uk website).
• Motor insurance check (annually, we ask you to provide a certificate of insurance along with written confirmation from the insurance provider that your vehicle is insured whilst volunteering).
• Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (every three years).
• Statutory and mandatory training face-to-face and online as notified by the Trust.

The impact of COVID-19 means that our volunteers are as important to us as ever; they continue to support the patients who need us the most during this challenging time. Rest assured that there are a number of measures in place to ensure that volunteering for Yorkshire Ambulance Service is as safe as it can be.

• You can continue to travel to and from areas of all levels of local alert (medium, high and very high - tiers one to three) for the purpose of volunteering and to complete training and other recruitment checks in preparation for volunteering.
• When attending our offices, training centres, ambulance stations or garages, there will be additional measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19; please follow signage and any instructions given to you by our staff.
• Please wear a face covering over your nose and mouth when visiting any Yorkshire Ambulance Service site, for any purpose.
• Volunteers must wear a surgical face mask, gloves, apron and eye protection when supporting patients; they also need to wear the face mask whilst driving when a patient is on board.
• Advice regarding COVID-19 is changing rapidly. We ask that you check your emails each day that you volunteer to ensure you are kept up to date.
• In line with government guidance, we may advise you that it is not safe to volunteer, though we sincerely hope that this won’t be the case.

When we have volunteer vacancies, they'll show on our 'Current Vacancies' page. Click ‘Join Our Team’ along the top of this webpage, you'll find volunteer roles behind the 'Support Services' button. 

Alternatively, click here.

Please note that we are only able to accept online applications.