by Angela Cole
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk

Patients could be left stranded after a hospital volunteer drivers service was scrapped.

The scheme which took patients to and from hospital appointments has been cut in a money-saving move by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

But managers of a local Age UK have demanded a guarantee that elderly patients from the town, who are transferred to Pembury (pictured above) would be transferred back to Maidstone.

Paul Coles from the organisation said: “Most of our clients don’t like to go any distance away from Maidstone because they are worried that if they have a fall no one is going to get to see them.”

He added:“Ideally for us, older, vulnerable people should be prioritised to return to Maidstone. We would like a guarantee they are brought back here, or that transport will be provided.”

A trust spokesman said the transport service, which cost about £420,000 each year to run, was largely unfunded and took hundreds of thousands of pounds a year away from direct patient care.

He added:“Patients will be advised about other voluntary car schemes that operate throughout Kent.”