Farmer's severed hand saved by volunteer doctors

The Beep doctors have been operating in Cumbria since 1994

A farmer’s severed hand being saved after an accident involving heavy farm machinery was among the calls dealt with by a team of volunteer doctors.

The Beep doctors were set up in 1994 and are volunteer medics who provide an additional emergency response across Cumbria.

Founder Dr Theo Weston gave a presentation about the service to Cumberland Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee.

In a response to a councillor's question about whether ambulance waiting times were having an impact on the service, he said: “We are being called to jobs more and more”.

The team deals with a range of calls including on the roads

Referring to the incident with the farmer’s hand, Dr Weston said because a Beep doctor was able align the arm and hand, it was saved following surgery at the RVI in Newcastle.

He said that the hand was now 95% functioning and described it as as an "amazing success story".

Other call-outs have included road accidents, falls, crush injuries, stabbings and medicals incidents.

Dr Weston said that they had also been called to major incidents such the Manchester bombing, the terrorist attack in Paris and the Grenfell Tower fire.

He said the annual running costs were between £150,000 and £200,000 and the volunteer doctors had a mix of skills.

He said: “Funding, it’s always a struggle, but we seem to be doing OK for money."