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The service provides non-urgent, planned transportation of patients with a medical need to and from premises providing NHS healthcare, and/or between providers of NHS-funded healthcare. The service is critical to support patients and to ensure that health services can work effectively and on time by transporting patients to healthcare appointments and supporting hospital discharges.
The Kent and Medway non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) is commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) as the Lead Commissioner and NHS South East London ICB as an Associate Commissioner.
We ran a survey asking users of the service (patients) in Kent and Medway to have the opportunity to tell us their views about the service, share their experiences and how they feel the service might be improved.
A total of 246 people responded to the survey with 158 completing in full. In total, we reached out to 5,153 number of people through a mixture of online meetings, monthly events and local groups. This was a result of targeted engagement across Kent and Medway. We attended groups and organised focus groups that very specifically cover protected characteristics, to speak to people face to face as well as put the survey out more generally. We had responses from every ethnic grouping that was listed on the survey and are confident that we reached seldom heard groups and minority communities.
Headlines and Main Themes
Long waiting times for pick-ups (inbound) and how these affect patients and their appointments
A lack of communication about delays and the resulting impact on patients being collected (outbound or discharged) and services
Signposting to alternative services (e.g. HTCS – healthcare travel costs scheme if patients) don’t meet the criteria for collection
Complaints do not seem to be fed back into an improvement plan
Improve efficiency through technology; employing digital platforms and planning services for vehicle coordination with real time updates
Accessibility for deaf/hard of hearing or visually impaired users of the service
Patient satisfaction
The results showed patient satisfaction is quite high with 70 percent of respondents rating it Good to Excellent. When we interviewed patients at the focus groups, their reasons for giving the service this rating was because (1) they were grateful the service exists and (2) they felt that if complained about the service then it would be withdrawn when in fact it is a lifeline for many who do not own a car, or are not able to drive or have no family to take them to appointments. Fourteen percent of respondents deemed the service to be poor with forgotten patients, long delays and missed appointments being the main reasons.
The way forward
The feedback from the patient survey has been shared with non-emergency patient transport service project leads and will help shape the specification for the service. This will also be shared with the provider.
The service provides non-urgent, planned transportation of patients with a medical need to and from premises providing NHS healthcare, and/or between providers of NHS-funded healthcare. The service is critical to support patients and to ensure that health services can work effectively and on time by transporting patients to healthcare appointments and supporting hospital discharges.
The Kent and Medway non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) is commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) as the Lead Commissioner and NHS South East London ICB as an Associate Commissioner.
We ran a survey asking users of the service (patients) in Kent and Medway to have the opportunity to tell us their views about the service, share their experiences and how they feel the service might be improved.
A total of 246 people responded to the survey with 158 completing in full. In total, we reached out to 5,153 number of people through a mixture of online meetings, monthly events and local groups. This was a result of targeted engagement across Kent and Medway. We attended groups and organised focus groups that very specifically cover protected characteristics, to speak to people face to face as well as put the survey out more generally. We had responses from every ethnic grouping that was listed on the survey and are confident that we reached seldom heard groups and minority communities.
Headlines and Main Themes
Long waiting times for pick-ups (inbound) and how these affect patients and their appointments
A lack of communication about delays and the resulting impact on patients being collected (outbound or discharged) and services
Signposting to alternative services (e.g. HTCS – healthcare travel costs scheme if patients) don’t meet the criteria for collection
Complaints do not seem to be fed back into an improvement plan
Improve efficiency through technology; employing digital platforms and planning services for vehicle coordination with real time updates
Accessibility for deaf/hard of hearing or visually impaired users of the service
Patient satisfaction
The results showed patient satisfaction is quite high with 70 percent of respondents rating it Good to Excellent. When we interviewed patients at the focus groups, their reasons for giving the service this rating was because (1) they were grateful the service exists and (2) they felt that if complained about the service then it would be withdrawn when in fact it is a lifeline for many who do not own a car, or are not able to drive or have no family to take them to appointments. Fourteen percent of respondents deemed the service to be poor with forgotten patients, long delays and missed appointments being the main reasons.
The way forward
The feedback from the patient survey has been shared with non-emergency patient transport service project leads and will help shape the specification for the service. This will also be shared with the provider.
