Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) across Lincolnshire will be run by East Midlands Ambulance Service from next year after NHS Lincolnshire CCG awarded them the 10-year contract following a successful bid.
NHS Lincolnshire CCG has selected EMAS to deliver both the control room and transport provision in the county from Saturday, 1 July 2023.
EMAS has experience of providing NEPTS in the East Midlands as it has delivered the service in Derbyshire 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.
Richard Henderson, EMAS Chief Executive, spent the first part of his ambulance career working on NEPTS in Lincolnshire and so explained he is looking forward to welcoming the service back to EMAS.
He said: “We are delighted to have been selected by commissioners as the preferred provider for Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services in Lincolnshire.
“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."
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.
Joy Weldin, Head of Patient Transport Services at EMAS, said: “I am exceptionally pleased to build on the high quality of the NEPTS service we provide in Northamptonshire and Derbyshire by also providing the service in Lincolnshire.
“Our dedicated and friendly NEPTS staff are vital in ensuring that patients are able to get to and from their life-saving healthcare appointments, as well as seeing patients safely home once they have been discharged from hospital.
“I look forward to welcoming new Lincolnshire colleagues to the EMAS family and helping them to feel at home, as well as meeting some of our lovely patients.”