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Delays in non-emergency patient transport

Posted By Julsy3

"Delays in non-emergency patient transport"

About: Arriva Transport Solutions Limited

(as a staff member posting for a patient/service user),

This story has been posted by Healthwatch Tameside on behalf of a member of the public. We have their details and will forward any comments to them. They said…

This lady has concerns with the transport provided by Arriva for her husband. Her husband is a wheelchair user, this the third time that there has been cause for complaint and it is by far the worst and most distressing incident.

Arrangements were made with Arriva tor transport for an appointment at Primary Care recently. It was agreed that the transport would arrive between 11: 00 a. m. and 1: 00 p. m. In fact it did not arrive until 1: 45. The podiatrist was very good and still gave the treatment later.Arriva was informed that he was ready to go home, but the transport did not arrive until much later. The podiatrist stayed in the clinic until the transport arrived which is much appreciated and the ambulance team were very good.

They made several calls to Arriva which cost £5.00 in mobile phone calls

The call centre staff were unhelpful, complaining about lack of staff, heavy workload, repeatedly said that the transport would be with him in 15 minutes.

Eventually told that an ambulance was being diverted from another call in order to pick up and return home. Why did this need to happen?

As a result of these delays this gentleman missed having an insulin injection, which could have had serious consequences for his health.

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Responses

Response from Communications Officer, Arriva Transport Solutions Limited 9 years ago
Arriva Transport Solutions Limited

Submitted on 10/07/2014 at 14:24
Published on Care Opinion at 14:38

We take all issues raised regarding our service very seriously and where patients contact us we investigate them fully to understand what changes can be made to ensure that the service is delivered in a timely manner and our patients receive consistent information and levels of care.

We operate a 0800 number for our control centre which is free from landlines and some mobile providers, depending upon individual mobile contracts. When the transport was booked it is likely to have been booked through the NHS referral and booking management service, as patients in Greater Manchester do not book directly with Arriva Transport Solutions.

We would be very keen to hear directly from this patient or his wife so that we can look in to this and provide a more detailed response including the actions we have taken as a result of the investigation we would like to conduct. If patients would like to make contact regarding their experience they can do so by emailing arrivatransportsolutions@arriva.co.uk.

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