Can Anyone Assist Regarding Cheap Taxis For Oaps In Essex?

[peachybabe]

Shot in the dark really.
Since September, my Dad has become disabled and has had to give up driving and the motability car which was registered in my Mum's name. She's been disabled for several years with Parkinsons and loads of other things. Both in their early 80's, Dad now on oxygen.
Whenever I can I help drive them wherever they need to go, but I work full time 45 miles away.
They had a hospital appointment today which I was unaware of. The hospital is only 5 miles from their home, but a local taxi firm charged them £15 each way!
Anyone got any ideas as to a cheaper alternative?
With the number of appointments they have between them, they'll be spending all their money on taxis!

[Gavmacp]

There is hospital transport.

[Islay]

Check and see if there is patient transport available - ring the hospital admin office.

[Jomlett]

Is there a Ring and Ride service in your area?

[237SJ]

The hospital will provide patient transport. Give PALS a ring to find out more details

[peachybabe]

237SJ - what is PALS?

[Gavmacp]

Patient advisory service

[Gavmacp]

Can't think what the L stands for

[Gavmacp]

Liaison

[Buenchico]

If a car is driven on a taxi licence the cost is fixed by the local council. If it's driven on a private hire licence the driver (or, more usually, the firm that contracts for) is free to determine the price charged. Private hire firms are often cheaper than taxis. So always ensure that any firm used is working on a 'private hire' basis and get a quote in advance.

However an average of £3 per mile is a fairly standard price for such travel (except, say, at peak times in central London, where a black cab is likely to cost at least £10 per mile). I was being charged £10 to £12 (in Suffolk) for the 4-mile journey home from the nearest mainline railway station over a decade ago.

This might be relevant:
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Travelcosts.aspx

[peachybabe]

Thanks all. Several lines to follow up tomorrow.

[Buenchico]

As has (sort of) been indicated above, many hospitals have volunteer drivers to take patients to and from hospital and the hospital's 'PALS' service is usually the first point of contact.

[237SJ]

Hospital transport does have it`s place but (probably due to costs) it can be a bit hit and miss. For example, if you have an appointment at 9.30 am, they will pick you up at 7am because they have to go around the houses and pick up a lot of other people. If you want to be taken home after your appointment, you will have to hang around for hours until all of the other patients have been rounded up. The best situation that I found for my Mum was to sign her up to the local centre for elderly people. It cost £12 per year and they had volunteer drivers that would take their clients for appointments. They never let my Mum down and were fantastic. Maybe you could research such a service in your area.

[EDDIE51]

We have a community transport system in my town and I know there are similar schemes in many other places. The schemes use volunteer drivers who use their own cars, there is a set charge that is a lot lower than a taxi.
For example a return trip to my nearest hospital ( 13 miles away, so 26 miles total ) is £15 ,of which you can claim £11 back as travel expenses at the hospital if you are on a low wage or benefits. A couple in their 80s would definitely qualify for the travel expenses refund.
If they qualified for a mobility car but can not now drive they should claim the cash alternative ,around £230, every 4 weeks. This cash is to enable disabled/elderly people to get around by using Taxis etc.
It is worth getting the CAB to do a benefit check for them, with your Dad and Mums conditions there are a lot of benefits they should be getting. Severe disability benefit , carers allowance,attendance allowance for example. If fact they probably are both entitled to those benefits which means they should be getting double the single persons allowance.
The government will not just pay these benefits you have to claim them and the CAB are experts at making the claims.For example my wife gets disability living allowance, we tried 3 times to claim it ourselves and were turned down each time. We got the CAB to claim on our behalf and got the full allowance paid in just 5 days and had it backdated 6 months !

[peachybabe]

Thank you all. I will be following up all the leads that you have suggested! I knew Abers would be able to point me in the right direction!

[EDDIE51]

List of Community Transport Schemes in Essex,
http://www.essexhighways.org/Transport-and-Roads/Getting-Around/Bus/Accessible-Transport/Community-transport.aspx
Most of these cover the villages around the nearest town as well as the town itself.

[EDDIE51]

I should also add that the community transport schemes will take you to the hospital and wait up to 3 hours while you are treated. (at least mine does) if you are going to be longer than 3 hours they do a double trip and comeback to pick you up afterwards.

[Cathyhuns]

Also look for a Good Neighbour scheme. These do the same as community transport but are often even more local. My local one is run from the local church but is available to anyone in the community. They charge expenses only and the driver waits with the person.

[EDDIE51]

Good advice ^^ that has reminded me that my local Church runs such a scheme but I have never used it.