1
Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham
and Hounslow
Patient Transport Services
Procurement
Patient and Public FAQ
Full version
December 2016
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Hounslow are currently reviewing the non-urgent NHS Patient Transport Services, with NHS North West Surrey CCG acting as the lead commissioner for the new Patient Transport Services contract.
These FAQ have been developed to provide patients, carers and the public with full information on the new Patient Transport Services procurement.
If you need further information, please email: Contactus2@nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk or write to:
Patient Transport Services Procurement
North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group 58 Church Street
Weybridge
2 CONTENTS
1 What are non-urgent Patient Transport Services? ... 3
2 How are non-urgent Patient Transport Services booked? ... 3
3 Current situation ... 3
3.1 How are Patient Transport Services currently delivered? ... 3
3.2 How do patients currently access Patient Transport Services? ... 4
3.3 Which geographic areas are covered by the current contract? ... 4
4 National context and case for change ... 4
4.1 What is happening nationally? ... 4
4.2 How have private sector providers changed the Patient Transport Services market? ... 5
4.3 How are Patient Transport Services monitored? ... 5
5 New Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Hounslow Patient Transport Services Procurement ... 5
5.1 What are the big issues around this procurement? ... 5
5.2 What makes this geographical area different? ... 6
5.3 Have other organisations helped shape these new Patient Transport Services? ... 6
5.4 What are the main improvement objectives for the new service provider? ... 6
5.5 How will the proposed Patient Transport Services model of care change under the new contract? ... 7
5.6 What will the service model look like in the new Patient Transport Service? ... 7
6 Patient and public engagement ... 8
6.1 How have patients and the public helped shape the new Patient Transport Service? ... 8
7 Patient Transport Services Eligibility Criteria ... 8
7.1 Has the eligibility criteria changed? ... 9
8 Next steps ... 9
8.1 What happens next? ... 9
3
1 What are non-urgent Patient Transport Services?
Non-urgent Patient Transport Services provide routine, pre-planned transport for patients who need to attend hospital, medical centres and outpatient appointments and cannot make their own way there due to recognised medical conditions which fulfil specific eligibility criteria.They also provide pre-planned transport for patients who require clinically trained staff to transport them because of their medical requirements – for example, patients requiring dialysis, carry out hospital discharges and transfer patients to hospices, nursing and care homes.
Patient Transport Services staff are trained in patient care and assessment, basic life support, manual handling, airway management and are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of many conditions.
Patient Transport Services do not include urgent (999) ambulance trips.
The Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Hounslow Patient Transport Services currently provide approximately 190,000 trips each year.
2 How are non-urgent Patient Transport Services booked?
Patients currently book the service through South East Coast Ambulance /service or via their clinician/point of care directly with South East Coast Ambulance via the web/phone. This service is free at the point of use for people who meet certain medical criteria which would prevent them from getting to their appointments without this assistance.3 Current situation
3.1 How are Patient Transport Services currently delivered?
Patient Transport Services for Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Hounslow are currently provided by South East Coast Ambulance Service
(SECAmb). This contract has been in place for three years and costs approximately £5m each year.
This contract has recently been extended whilst we procure a new service, therefore the current contract expires on 31st March 2017.
4
NHS North West Surrey CCG is the lead commissioner for Patient Transport Services in this area and is leading the procurement for a new Patient Transport Services provider, to commence on 1 April 2017.
3.2 How do patients currently access Patient Transport Services?
South East Coast Ambulance Service provides a central booking service for patients requiring Patient Transport Services. Patients can call the booking centre Monday-Friday 8am-6pm to book their transport using the low cost call telephone number: Tel: 0300 200 1067
3.3 Which geographic areas are covered by the current contract?
The Patient Transport contract will provide transport to all patients who meet the eligibility criteria and who live/temporary reside in:
North West Surrey CCG Guildford & Waverley CCG East Surrey CCG
Surrey Heath CCG
North East Hampshire and Farnham CCG Hounslow CCG
Patients who need transport to/from NHS healthcare facilities within Surrey and outside of Surrey are covered under the current contract. Special arrangements can also be made for patients needing to travel a great distance (for example, travelling to Manchester – arrangements may be made with a local volunteer car driver or with an approved sub-contracted provider i.e. St Johns Ambulance).
Patients living or temporary residing in the Surrey Downs CCG area have their own patient transport arrangements with a different provider (G4S).
4 National context and case for change
4.1 What is happening nationally?Patient Transport Services across the UK have changed over recent years to introduce a competitive market to an arena which traditionally has been served by NHS Ambulance Trusts.
5
These changes have largely been driven by CCGs seeking to improve patient care and experience while reducing costs.
Competitive tendering has led to a number of private sector companies entering the Patient Transport Services market. As a result, the Patient Transport Services market now includes a number of public, private and voluntary sector providers who operate nationally alongside existing ambulance Trusts who continue to work within their own regions.
4.2 How have private sector providers changed the Patient Transport Services market?
The introduction of private sector providers has allowed some regions to develop more integrated Patient Transport Services, where they form part of the larger social transport market. This ‘shared resource’ model means that, for example, minibuses used for school transport, special education needs or social care can also transport Patient Transport Services patients to/from hospital to make full use of local
transport operators/services available.
4.3 How are Patient Transport Services monitored?
Unlike the emergency 999 service there are no national performance targets for Patient Transport Services.
The lack of national guidelines means that it is left to lead CCGs to develop and adopt service provision and set performance targets that meet the needs of their local patients, acute Trusts, other healthcare providers and the other CCGs who are party to these contracts.
As a result, there are now a wide range of local Patient Transport Services contracts across the country with different service provisions and different performance
targets.
5 New Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and
Hounslow Patient Transport Services Procurement
5.1 What are the big issues around this procurement?Each of the different Patient Transport Services models across the UK has its own advantages and disadvantages.
6
We now have an opportunity to be innovative and think about the various options that best suits the requirements of Surrey and North East Hampshire patients and carers.
A series of public/patient engagement events has been held to listen to patients views on what’s working well, and what they would like to see improved in the new service.
We have listened to our patients regarding the current service and where improvements are required/suggested, we have incorporated these (wherever possible) into the service specification as part of the procurement process.
5.2 What makes this geographical area different?
We have an increasing ageing population and a greater number of people with debilitating comorbidities which will create a future requirement for many more trips to appointments, yet no additional funding will be available to support this.
The local traffic is notoriously congested, so the patient transport service needs to take this into consideration when planning journeys to ensure patients
arrive/collected from their appointment on time.
5.3 Have other organisations helped shape these new Patient Transport
Services?
As lead commissioner, North West Surrey CCG has sought advice and guidance on this procurement to help inform the service specification and commissioning
decisions. These organisations include Derbyshire, Norfolk, South Coast Ambulance Service and Fareham and Gosport CCG. Additionally, clinical
colleagues across these CCGs have provided their comments and input into the new service version and model.
Additionally, Surrey County Council organised and facilitated a January 2015 workshop in which the areas for improvement in the new PTS contract were formulated.
The Surrey Coalition of Disabled People has been instrumental in providing feedback from service users and representatives for our patient advisory group.
5.4 What are the main improvement objectives for the new service provider?
Representatives from local hospitals, the current service providers, patients, community transport providers and Surrey County Council and fellow CCG
7
colleagues met in January and July 2015 to understand the clear areas for improvement in the new contract, which are:
Patient focused
Timeliness – discharges, collections, arrivals Reliable
A safe, friendly service
The main improvement objectives for the new Patient Transport Services provider are to:
Offer an improved booking and referral system to ensure that the eligibility criteria is consistently, fairly and universally applied and alternative transport options are offered if people are not eligible for Patient Transport Services Improve communication with service users, using technology where possible
to keep patients informed through a single point of entry for callers, departure lounges and boards, etc.
Improve service quality, efficiency and the overall patient experience Work with the minimal number of contractors, to improve efficiency and
patient experience
Integrate with social care transport
Provide better coordination with hospital discharge procedures + an easy system for hospital staff to use
Deliver financial efficiencies
5.5 How will the proposed Patient Transport Services model of care change under the new contract?
We engaged with people working in health and social care, service users and carers during June and July 2015 to develop the new Patient Transport Services model of care.
Strong clinical leadership will be built into the new Patient Transport Services. In broad terms, the new model is intended to shift from a traditional transportation approach to a model that offers patients, who are largely low acuity, or able to walk to and from their vehicle with minimal assistance, a wider range of alternative transport methods, rather than ambulance services.
5.6 What will the service model look like in the new Patient Transport Service?
Following extensive patient engagement and feedback we have chosen to adopt a prime provider model approach, which means that we have one contract with one organisation providing and managing the central booking service and all
transportation services, with options to sub-contract to specialized transport/local community transport.
8
6 Patient and public engagement
6.1 How have patients and the public helped shape the new Patient Transport Service?
North West Surrey CCG is working with CCGs across Surrey and North East Hampshire and Farnham to ensure that patients, carers and the public had the opportunity to have their say on the new Patient Transport Services and be kept informed of the procurement process as it progresses.
The following PTS patient and public engagement events were held: Date Sponsoring CCG
22 June North West Surrey
9 July Surrey Heath CCG
15 July North East Hampshire & Farnham
21 July East Surrey CCG
27 July Open event
28 July Guildford & Waverley CCG
4 August Local Stakeholders and Community Transport operators
Additionally, patients and the public have been invited to take a survey on the North West Surrey CCG website, which also contains FAQ and other useful information on this procurement.
We also have an established Patient Advisory Group, who meet regularly and represent users of the service. They are heavily involved in the evaluation of the procurement process from a patient perspective.
Patients and the public have been encouraged to email:
Contactus2@nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk with their enquiries.
Patients can continue to make enquiries/feedback their experience via:
Contactus2@nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk
7 Patient Transport Services Eligibility Criteria
7.1 What is the eligibility criteria for Patient Transport Services?The Department of Health issued eligibility criteria for Patient Transport Services in 2007. The criteria sets out the national requirements to receive NHS funded
transport. i.e. patients who need skilled assistance during their journey, patients with a diagnosed medical condition where public transport would be detrimental to their recovery/condition etc.
9 7.1 Has the eligibility criteria changed?
No, there has been no change to these national guidelines.
However, it is recognised that in the past, this criteria has not been applied consistently, and some patients may have received NHS funded transport who should not have done so.
Going forward the existing national guidelines will be interpreted by Surrey, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Hounslow CCGs in line with Department of Heath Guidelines and will be universally applied, to ensure that the right patients receive the right Patient Transport Services. Everyone who is eligible for these services will continue to receive them. Patients who are not eligible, will be provided with
assistance on alternative options (e.g. telephone numbers for local community transport/volunteer car schemes, local bus services etc).
8 Next steps
8.1 What happens next?
The Pre Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) were submitted to bidders in November 2015 and Evaluators will review these in December 2015.
Bidders will be notified about the outcome of the PQQ in January 2016 and those successful will be invited to go through to the Tender phase.
How long will this take?
It is anticipated that the procurement process will be completed by the end of September 2016, with the new service taking effect from 1 April 2017.
This allows enough time to carry out a thorough process and develop a service that meets the needs of local people in the future. This period will also give any new provider(s) a six month mobilisation period to ensure the new service is appropriately delivered from 1 April 2017.
