Non-emergency patient transport services: NHS England respond

In June, Healthwatch Barnet published a snapshot report into local people's experiences of using patient transport services for journeys to Barnet hospitals.  The report was produced as a direct result of Barnet residents and local community organisations alerting us to the difficulties they were experiencing.

We carried out three focus groups with Barnet residents from different community groups to understand their experiences in more detail. You can read our report in full here.

Healthwatch Barnet is pleased to say that our core recommendation of promoting different transport options more widely is echoed in NHS England’s new review of non-emergency transport services.

Local people told us that there was a lack of information about available transport schemes, those provided by NHS and the voluntary sector, and we know that increasing the information available on these different transport options will make a real difference to people.

Following our focus group discussions with patients, at which they told us they had experienced waiting times of two hours for non-emergency hospital transport, we also put forward recommendations for providing accurate tracking for expected pick up time. We’re pleased to say that this is also reiterated in NHS England’s review, the main objectives of which include creating a non-emergency transport service that is responsive to patients’ needs and utilises technology to reduce their waiting times.

‘We look forward to seeing the recommendations from NHS England’s review implemented to improve patients’ experience’ says our Peer Research Officer Yasmin, ‘These are steps in the right direction for patients who depend on non-emergency hospital transport’.