A review of NHS Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) has been published by NHS England and NHS Improvement. The review has been informed by an Expert Advisory Group and aims to improve services, ensuring they are consistently responsive, fair and sustainable. As well as improving the patient service, as NEPTS constitutes around one-fifth of direct NHS travel emissions of carbon dioxide, their transition away from fossil fuels needs to be accelerated.
The review sets out a new national framework for non-emergency patient transport comprising five components:
• Updated national guidance on eligibility for transport support
• Support for wider transport planning and journeys for all patients
• Increased transparency
• A clear path to a net zero NHS patient transport sector
• Better procurement and contract management.
Core standards and model specifications will be available by December 2022 and, subject to legislation, NHS ICS bodies will assume responsibility for overseeing NEPTS and transport support more widely from April 2022.
It is anticipated that the changes to be introduced as a result of this review will result in significant improvements to NEPTS within the same financial resources.
