Membership Standards

Membership Standards v8 August 2022 

Standard Operating Procedure 

Prior to being accepted as a member of NABB, an individual member group (hereafter called The Group) shall ensure the following conditions/standards have been met.  

These should be considered the minimum standards. 

1. The Group is already registered as an official charity with the relevant charity regulatory authority in its country and has appropriate public indemnity insurance, employer liability insurance and trustee indemnity insurance.  

2. The Group’s primary aim is to provide a ‘free at point of use’ motorcycle, car or van courier service to, or from NHS (or equivalent) establishments for products directly related to patient welfare.  

3. The Group is not involved in, or is planning to be, involved in commercial activity, directly or indirectly, with the NHS.  

4. The Group’s volunteer riders will have held a full licence for a minimum of 2 years and are all in possession of a current advanced riding qualification from an acknowledged advanced riding organisation. (see Appendix 1)  

5. For Groups seeking membership of NABB where the percentage of qualified advanced riders in the group falls short of 100%, membership may be granted subject to a suitable and comprehensive training plan being submitted for approval by the NABB committee. In any event, any training plan must meet the target of 100% within a suitable and agreed time with NABB. 

6. The Group’s volunteer drivers will have held a full licence for a minimum of 2 years and prior to undertaking operational duties will have been subject to a driving assessment by a suitably qualified assessor or hold an advanced driving or riding qualification obtained within the last three years. 

7. The Group’s volunteers will use appropriate CE approved safety clothing when riding on official charity duty.  

8. Should the Group permit the use of privately owned motorcycles or other vehicles for charity work, it must gain assurance to ensure that the motorcycle or other vehicle and rider or driver are covered by the appropriate level of insurance. The rider/driver is responsible to ensure the vehicle’s roadworthiness prior to undertaking charity activities. 

9. Any volunteer that has accrued 6 points or more must have their case reviewed by their committee to ascertain if the volunteer is suitable to continue as an active duty rider or driver. 

10. The Group complies with the MHRA/NICE/UKAMB principles and guidelines for the transport of medicines and tissue samples, including blood and blood products and human donor milk. (see Appendix 2)  

11. All regulations relating to the carriage of dangerous goods are complied with. Current relevant regulations are UN3373 and PI650.  

12. The Group has in place a set of procedures that supports a quality approach, which includes a suitable (spreadsheet / electronic) audit trail of each run, detailing pickup point / time and drop off point / confirmation of actions and product description. (Note, an audit trail is a mandatory MHRA requirement)  

13. If the group offers a ‘Blue light’ service, its procedures must only allow a clinically qualified member of the NHS organisation requesting the transport to authorise the use of blues and twos. Records of such authorisations must be kept. The Group procedures must include suitable training and records of such training to support a member using blues and twos.   

14. The Group ensures that all processes and training are compliant with existing road traffic legislation.  

15. All member groups agree that NABB may represent the member groups’ best interests and enter into negotiations with NHS and Government agencies at the national level.  

16. All member groups should seek to incorporate the NABB logo in their own documentation, web site, promotional material etc. and promote the activities of NABB where appropriate  

17. Member groups will adhere to the NABB dress code (see Appendix 3)  

18. Volunteer’s own personal vehicles MUST NOT be liveried or carry blue lights/sirens 

19. Groups must not fund raise or market themselves within other groups' areas or where areas overlap groups should make each other aware of such activities.  

20. When selling a marked up bike a group MUST ensure that ALL livery and lights are removed before the bike is handed over unless the sale is to another NABB member group. 

21. Where practicable Groups will assist with NABB events and participate in NABB marketing events 

22. Groups will make reasonable endeavours to attend NABB meetings which are open to all member groups. 

23. Groups will, when requested, and where practicable, allow NABB to review their policies and processes. 

Appendix 1 

Advanced riding qualifications  

‘Current’ means less than three years old. Recognised advanced riding organisations may be one of the following.  

1. The Institute of Advanced Motorists. (IAM)  

2. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)  

3. Police advanced riding certificate  

4. Armed forces advanced riding certificate  

5. Diamond advanced riding  

6. DSA Enhanced Rider scheme, with 'A' grades across all modules  

Other advanced riding organisations not listed may be considered at the discretion of the NABB committee.  

Riders and drivers should undertake a formal retest every three years to demonstrate continued competence. This may be with the original accrediting body, another accredited body listed above or a Group may put in place it’s own process using suitably qualified assessors. 

In all cases, adequate records must be kept of rider and driver demonstrations of competence.  

Appendix 2  

MHRA principles and guidelines  

These are currently defined as follows:  

1. The Group shall have in place with each hospital an agreed Service Level Document. (SLA)  

2. Each volunteer must be trained in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) [blood, human milk and other tissue samples] and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) [medicines]. Training records must be kept in accordance with MHRA requirements and training refreshed in accordance with the applicable SLA.  

3. All blood and blood product boxes must be covered with a waterproof cover when being transported by motorcycle, regardless of the prevailing weather conditions.  

Appendix 3 

Dress code: 

Whilst on official charity business, all riders will wear suitable protective clothing, to include uniform Hi-Viz jacket when riding a marked up blood bike  and all members will carry photo ID with them.