Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children has received a generous donation which will help staff respond quickly to seriously ill youngsters.

The state-of-the-art Subaru Forester XC, donated by Penicuik dealership A F Noble and Son, will provide essential support to the hospital’s paediatric retrieval team, who assist the safe transfer of around 150 sick babies and children a year.

The vehicle will be used to transport doctors, nurses and life-saving equipment from the intensive care unit to seriously ill and injured children in hospitals in the east of Scotland.

After arriving at their destination, the team are able to prepare the young patients for transfer to the intensive care unit at the Sick Kids, via ambulance, helicopter or aeroplane.

Dr Jon McCormack, consultant in paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care retrieval at the hospital, said: “This new emergency response vehicle will be a great help to our staff, allowing us to respond quickly to calls for help across Scotland.

“We also hope to use the vehicle to raise awareness of the service and to transport our SimBaby simulator, which we use in training courses, to hospitals across the country.”

The Subaru is the second donation made by AF Noble and Son recently, who also gave a similar vehicle to Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Children after theirs was stolen and destroyed.

Michael Noble, a director of AF Noble and Son, said: “AF Noble and Son, in collaboration with our partners, the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, Colin McCrae Vision and Subaru UK, are delighted to provide the paediatric retrieval team in Edinburgh with a Subaru Forester.

“We presented a similar vehicle to the team at Yorkhill Sick Kids Hospital in Glasgow recently, to replace the previous one that was stolen and destroyed. However, as there are two paediatric retrieval teams in Scotland, both doing fantastic work and both equally deserving of support, we always hoped we might be able to provide a vehicle to both the Edinburgh and Glasgow units."

Extra fundraising helped to complete the special gift, with the Sick Kids Friends Foundation contributing money to the branding of the vehicle, including the purchase of reflective decals and a light bar, and school pupils Ayshia Guy and Emma Ingram raising £200 to buy a SatNav by taking part in the junior Great North Run.

The two primary seven pupils, both from Aberdeen, decided to raise money for the paediatric retrieval team after a friend was cared for by them.

Maureen Harrison, chief executive of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, added: “The retrieval team plays a vital role in ensuring seriously ill or injured children get the specialist care they need.

“We are extremely grateful to AF Noble and Son, Colin McCrae Vision and Subaru UK for providing this fantastic new vehicle which will be an invaluable resource and will help ensure children from across Scotland are given the best emergency care possible.”

IN DETAIL

Sick Kids Friends Foundation