Patient Transport

[mrs_overall]

Does anyone know the criteria for eligibility? It can't be down to benefits as I have a wealthy friend in West Yorkshire who is attending a hospital in Sheffield and patient transport (a taxi) is provided.

[gness]

MrsO. My OH had a hospital taxi to take him to Leicester from Kettering for treatment 3 x weekly and for appointments when I couldn`t take him.

No means test or questions asked. In fact many of Leicester`s patients came from as far away as Lincolnshire. Just the need to be at the hospital.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

They provided mine for a year, no question.

[mrs_overall]

Mr O has just phoned me. He will have to go to St James in Leeds every week for 6 weeks when he comes home. That is a round trip of 160 miles. He has been told he cannot drive but cannot have transport provided

[hc4361]

Nothing to do with benefits.

"Some people are eligible for non-emergency patient transport services (PTS). These services provide free transport to and from hospital for people who have a medical need for it."
http://www.nhs.uk/chq...=68&SubCategoryID=154

As an aside, cancer patients do not pay hospital parking charges when they go for therapy.

[sunny-dave]

Ring the hospital's PALS service - they will know the true criteria & help if possible.

[mrs_overall]

Good idea Dave, I never thought of PALS. Ta xx

[gness]

Then that is one to fight. The girl who received a kidney when OH did came almost daily from Lincoln after discharge for a few weeks.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

Have you spoken to St James? They are who provided mine.

[sunny-dave]

[phone] or [phone] for PALS Mrs O

[mrs_overall]

I'll phone them in the morning. They won't even provide transport home for him after his op

[mrs_overall]

Cheers dave xx

[sunny-dave]

Tell him to refuse to be discharged because no-one can collect him - it's amzing how that conjures up some transport.

[mrs_overall]

Will do, but I don't think he'll do that as he hates making a fuss.

Me, on the other hand.....

[Postdog]

You may have a local community service, which admittedly you pay for but is cheaper than a conventional taxi. I use my local one to travel from Rushden to Oxford, which is about an hour away by car. I'm not an OAP OR on benefits but I qualify because I have mobility issues and can't really use public transport.

[mrs_overall]

Public transport is not an option because it takes 3.5 hours each way.
We live in a small town and as far as I know there is no local community service.
For various reasons I will not be able to take him, and most of our friends have businesses (B&B's & hotels) and are too busy to help

[DTCwordfan]

How are you, postdog? Haven't seen you on here for a while.

[Sqad]

Why should a patient who is to be discharged following an operation expect the NHS to pay for transport.?

[whiskeryron]

I do not agree with the system whereby people in different areas are given different treatment & I think it is time it was sorted out, after all if you think about it all patients attending NHS hospitals are receiving treatment that is free at the point of delivery and should have to get there by whatever means themselves, taxi fares being paid out of an ailing NHS is not on, I've never heard such nonsense.

WR.

[sunny-dave]

It depends where he/she is sqad and why he/she is in that particular hospital.

If the NHS can only provide a specialised service at a considerable distance from the patient's home then it should provide transport.

If, on the other hand, the patient has elected to go to a hospital other than the nearest then he/she should pay.

[gness]

It`s not just the discharge Sqad. Many people needing regular appointments at a distant hospital simply couldn`t afford to pay. We could have never found £240 a week.