July 1, 2022 8.00 am This story is over 20 months old

EMAS will take over contract for Lincolnshire non-emergency ambulances

Failing provider still supplying for the next year
Patient Transport Services vehicle. | Photo: EMAS

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) across Lincolnshire will be run by the East Midlands Ambulance Service from next summer after NHS Lincolnshire CCG awarded them a 10-year contract.

NHS Lincolnshire CCG selected EMAS to deliver both the control room and transport provision in the county from July 1, 2023.

Thames Ambulance Service, now known as Health Transportation Group UK, will continue as contract holders until this date.

They were previously found to have a catalogue of failings, numerous damning inspection reports and countless complaints, but are now able to continue to run the service for the next 12 months.

EMAS will take over the contract next summer and already has experience of providing NEPTS in the East Midlands as it has delivered the service since 2016 and in Northamptonshire since December 2019.

NEPTS provides transport for eligible patients so that they can get to healthcare appointments and clinics such as chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, physiotherapy, and mental health or dementia day centres, and for eligible patients who require support with journeys from hospital.

EMAS transported 240,000 patients last year in Northamptonshire and Derbyshire as part of its non-emergency patient transport service, and receives over 17,500 phone calls every month from NHS colleagues and patients to make or amend a journey booking.

Richard Henderson, EMAS Chief Executive, spent the first part of his ambulance career working on NEPTS in Lincolnshire and is looking forward to welcoming the service back to the organisation.

He said: “We have an excellent track record of providing non-emergency transport services to patients in Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and we already have a good understanding of the patients and road networks of Lincolnshire where we provide emergency ambulance care.

“We are therefore very pleased to have been selected to extend our services in Lincolnshire to provide patient transport and non-emergency control room support to our patients, and look forward to working with both NHS Lincolnshire CCG and the current provider TASL over the coming year to make this as seamless a transition as possible.”

Tim Fowler, Associate Director of Contracting and Performance at NHS Lincolnshire CCG, said: ”We are pleased to have awarded this new contract to EMAS, which will see them take over responsibility for NEPTS in Lincolnshire from July next year and we look forward to working in partnership with them and our outgoing provider TASL, to ensure a smooth transition to the new contract.”