A CHARITY is stepping in to help Pembrokeshire parents and children who find themselves stranded miles from home after being rushed in to hospital.

Action for Children is launching a pilot project in partnership with Hywel Dda Health Board following concerns about families - often with very young children - having to find their way home from Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen, after being taken in by ambulance.

The Western Telegraph has previously reported stories of families who have been taken to Carmarthen by ambulance overnight - following the removal of 24hour paediatric care at Withybush Hospital - and then been discharged in the early hours with no means of making the potentially 30+ mile journey home.

The much-needed transport service for families is being launched today, Tuesday.

The scheme will be run as a pilot project for a year and also aims to reduce the number of missed appointments.

It will link closely iwith Community Midwives and Midwifery Led and Paediatric Ambulatory Care Units at both Withybush and Glangwili Hospitals.

Sandra White, children services manager for Action for Children in Pembrokeshire, said: “We have 15 volunteers who will work on a rota basis to transport families to and from hospital depending on the individual requirements of the family. Being such a rural county, people can be isolated from key public services especially in areas where families face many issues in their day to day lives.

“We know that rates of missed appointments need to be reduced and that people have also found that they have been rushed to hospital by ambulance and then have no way of getting home once the emergency has passed.

"This can be very traumatic if you’re a young mother and your child is unwell. We’re very pleased to be working with Hywel Dda University Health Board on this excellent way to support families in rural communities to access health services, free of charge.”

The project is part of wider transport solutions that have been put in place such as ticket systems for bus services, use of taxis and other forms of transport services.

Peter Llewellyn, assistant director of strategic partnerships at Hywel Dda University Health Board, added: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with Action for Children in Pembrokeshire to provide this new service to support children and families to access services across the area. The added value of working with the third sector and other partners locally has seen this development progress rapidly and we look forward to demonstrating its value as a pilot project over the next twelve months”.