NHS transport abuse clampdown

Four primary care trusts and four hospital trusts have joined forces with a regional ambulance service to apply eligibility guidelines more strictly in an attempt to keep costs down.

At present, patient journeys in South Yorkshire cost the local NHS 8m, but concern is growing over the inappropriate use of ambulances, leading to deserving people being turned away.

Of particular concern to those in charge of the scheme are people who take up seats on NHS minibuses to avoid paying bus fares or petrol to accompany relatives to their appointments.

Another group being targeted as part of the tough new policy are patients who could make their own way to hospital but still call on the free service to pick them up from home.

Keith Boughen, of NHS Rotherham, one of the trusts behind the idea to tighten up, said the guidelines which would now be enforced in the county were part of national NHS policy. "NHS transport is for those people whose medical condition means that they can't get to their appointment or treatment any other way, but it is also a service that ensures that from door-to-door, they are safe.

"We recognise that some patients will want the support of relatives or friends at their appointments but they should arrange to meet them at the hospital wherever that is possible."

Under the national guidelines, the only members of the public entitled to ride on NHS transport are parents or carers travelling with children or adults who have been assessed as vulnerable. The difficulty for health managers is that some patients and their families have come to see the patient transport service as an unofficial taxi, which leads to an overburdening of the system. Mr Boughen said: "What we've found in the past is that the eligibility criteria has not been applied consistently and some patients have been transported who could have made their own way to appointments.

"Additionally they have had someone travel with them. This means they and their escort will have been taking up valuable places that should have been available for other patients. We have now agreed across South Yorkshire that we need to keep funding the service at the same level, but we are also clear that the service must be used for those who really need it."

The four primary care trusts involved are NHS Rotherham, NHS Doncaster, NHS Barnsley and NHS Sheffield, while all four of the county's hospital trusts have also signed up.

South Yorkshire Ambulance service, which carried 550,000 patients on its dedicated patient transport service across the county last year, has given the crackdown its support. Department of Health guidelines say that the only people eligible to use patient transport are those whose medical problems would be worsened by travelling by other means. People who suffer with severe mobility problems which would make it impossible to access the hospital by any other means, such as public transport or taxi, are covered.

Escorts and relatives are generally banned from ambulance transport unless the patient is under the age of 16 or an adult with certain mental health issues or learning disabilities. Mr Boughen

added: "Taking a clearer and more consistent approach to assessing eligibility is about making sure patients who require the safe transport to and from their treatment or appointment can get it instead of being turned away because spaces are filled."

The eligibility criteria will be strictly enforced across South Yorkshire from tomorrow, and all healthcare professionals have been instructed to "look more closely" at patients' travel needs.

Any member of the public not accompanying a vulnerable child or adult will not be allowed to board any NHS patient transport vehicle.