![\"NHS](\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/nhs-blood-ford-vehicles-sm.jpg\")
Vehicles operated by the\u00a0NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT)\u00a0may not\u00a0have the same high profile as other emergency services vehicles, but they deserve to.<\/p>\nVehicles operated by the\u00a0NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT)\u00a0may not\u00a0have the same high profile as other emergency services vehicles, but they deserve to.<\/p>\n
Collectively, the NHSBT’s 500-strong fleet is responsible for\u00a0collecting and transporting\u00a0blood donations from all around the UK, and\u00a0distributing them to hospitals as required — sometimes under emergency, blue light conditions.<\/p>\n
Ford vehicles already played a major role in the NHSBT fleet, with around 65 per cent of the current fleet featuring the blue oval badge on their bonnet. This presence will now be extended by the addition of the Ford Transit Custom to the NHSBT fleet.<\/p>\n
Current\u00a0NHSBT Ford models include blue-light Ford Focus Estate models and specially-adapted\u00a0Ford Transits, each of model\u00a0has a key task in keeping blood supplies circulating.<\/p>\n
NHSBT\u2019s national fleet service manager, Larry Bannon, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased to welcome the Ford Transit Custom on to our fleet and we are sure it will more than meet our expectations. The Transit is recognised throughout this industry as the perennial best in class, and it is certainly the best vehicle that fits our purpose, with excellent network support and a spare parts supply second to none.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In addition to emergency-service livery and the fitment of special storage equipment, each van is lined in a special waterproof resin to enable power-washing of the interior to ensure cleanliness to prescribed and regularly audited levels.<\/p>\n
Larry Bannon added:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ford vans are used in every stage of the blood donation process, from collecting the blood from the village halls and schools where blood donation sessions are set up, then transporting the donated blood to our regional processing sites where it is tested, processed and sorted, through to delivering units of blood to hospitals, whether as part of a routine order or under emergency blue-light cover to meet a hospital\u2019s urgent needs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ford Transit Custom has joined the NHS Blood Transfusion service fleet, extending the role Ford plays within this life-saving fleet of emergency vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[1894,548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7046,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions\/7046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}