Thank you for considering Sidmouth Voluntary Services for your transport needs.
Sidmouth Voluntary Services is closed from the 18th December and reopening on the 4th January.
Some of our volunteers are still driving over this period but bookings must be made before 11am on Friday 18 December .
We will start taking bookings again on Monday 4 January at 9am.
Should you need to organise your transport before this you could try and call the following service oragnisations :
Royal Devon & Exeter Patient Transport Advice Service (RD&E PTAS)
The RD&E PTAS Office is open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day & New Years Day. They are a Transport Advice Service and it is important to stress that they may not be able to provide transport for everyone as there are eligibility criteria for patients requesting help. However as they are an advice service they will help with signposting you to other organisations that may also be able to help. They can make Transport appointments up to 2 weeks before an appointment and First Care, who actually provide the Transport, operate all year round. - their number is 0345 155 1009
NHS Volunteer Responders
You’re eligible to receive supporting services for support from NHS Volunteer Responders if:
- You have ever been advised to shield by a health professional.
- You are vulnerable for another reason, (for instance, due to disability, pregnancy, aged over 70, you have a long-term condition such as Parkinson's or epilepsy, or are vulnerable due to a mental health condition).
- You have caring responsibilities.
- You are self-isolating because you have been diagnosed with coronavirus (COVID-19) or have symptoms, or you’ve been in contact with someone who has.
- You have been instructed to self-isolate by the Test and Trace service, because you’ve been near someone infected.
- You are self-isolating ahead of planned hospital care.
Patient Transport is available but will need to be requested by a professional referrer such as your GP or other medical practitioner. Please call 0808 196 3646 for further help.
We hope that this information is of use and would like to stress that we are able to take bookings up to 11:00 on Friday 18 December for the period that we are closed. However please be aware that for advance bookings made for the period 19/12/20 - 03/01/21, once the booking request is sent to the driver by email, the Transport Office will not unfortunately be able to provide any follow up support whilst we are closed. This will mean that the driver who has been asked to carry out a journey by the Office will contact you directly to let you know whether they can fulfill your request and if they cannot then you will have to try other organisations as SVS will unfortunately not be able to help . Thanks for your understanding in advance on this matter
Finally we would like to wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year and we look forward to serving you again in 2021. Stay safe and warm. 
Sincerely
Val Powell & Rich Allen - The Transport Office