East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) extended its Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) in Lincolnshire on 1 July 2023 and a new base has been established in North Hykeham to host some of the new crews, fleet and control team. EMAS was awarded a nine-year and nine-month contract by NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board to deliver both the control room and transport provision in the county, where it also provides emergency ambulance care.
NEPTS is for patients who need medical or clinical support to get to and from their healthcare appointments, when they go through the necessary assessment of eligibility criteria. Its aim is to provide a safe and reliable service to eligible patients, giving them the reassurance that they will get to their scheduled appointments on time. More NEPTS information can be found from the EMAS website.
Joy Weldin, Divisional Director for NEPTS at EMAS, said:
We are delighted to be delivering patient transport services in Lincolnshire and we are committed to providing professional patient transport through the dedicated work and support delivered by our new Lincolnshire team.
The Lindum site is the first base that EMAS NEPTS have had where it was created from start to finish. It is now the new base for our call handing team, control room, a fleet of over 20 ambulance and electric vehicles, and also an office hub for supporting over 140 colleagues who are based in all areas within Lincolnshire. We appreciated the Lindum team for rendering their support in making this new site happen.
We believe this new hub will support our team in achieving the aim of providing a reliable, safe and comfortable transport service to patients in Lincolnshire, ensuring their safety, safe mobilisation, condition management or recovery. We are glad to have a new base built to welcome our new crew and support in patient transport needs.
Paula Toohey, NEPTS Performance Delivery Manager of Lincolnshire, added:
It has been amazing to witness the build process while welcoming our new crew and getting them trained and prepared for serving the Lincolnshire community in the new site here. We are delighted that our crew are supported by well-designed facilities and comfortable working environment to allow them to work efficiently and attentively.
The Lindum Business Park is owned and managed by the construction company, Lindum Group. EMAS was an existing tenant, having also based its vehicle servicing operation at the park.
Lindum Group business park manager Angela Morley said:
At Lindum, we are well known for our construction work, but we also run three business parks which are home to 57 other businesses. EMAS joins 40 other tenants at our Lincoln premises from a range of sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, charity, technology, and food, as well as our own operational premises.
Our construction expertise within the health sector means we were able to transform a unit that was previously occupied by a paving company into an ideal home for NHS-funded patient transport services.
To ensure the building was adapted to meet its requirements, Lindum’s construction team accompanied EMAS on a tour of its existing stations in the county.
Lindum director Nick Hammond said:
The existing industrial unit was a blank canvas so we wanted to ensure the new premises were designed specifically to suit the needs of EMAS, so it could establish an excellent hub from which its staff could deliver the new service.
We spent time with the Lindum design team and EMAS NEPTS team to develop and establish a layout, which included excellent office accommodation, modern toilet, shower, changing and crew room facilities, storage, and sluice facilities and vehicle parking, wash bays and EV charging points. The result is a building which will provide an ideal base for what is a vital part of local NHS services.