"Transport difficulties to Calderdale hospital"

My 89 yr old aunt, who lives with me, is fit and well in most respects but has to attend renal dialysis 3 times a week in Calderdale. The unit is fantastic and the staff there are wonderful but from my experience the transport system is dreadful. On some occasions and bank holidays etc we can transport her but the majority of the time she has to rely on the transport system. She has no trouble being picked up to go to the hospital it is her return journey that causes her distress. There are many times that she is left sitting in the waiting room whilst other patients come out and go. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason for this, as the same drivers can come back to pick her up when they did not have a full car on the previous visit. I sometimes arrive home from work and have to go to Calderdale and pick her up when she has often been sitting there for well over an hour.

Aunty does find the dialysis very draining and often has to go straight to bed when she gets home. We have discussed actually oganising taxies for her and paying ourselves but a couple of weeks ago she was so fed up that she ordered a taxi. The driver gave her no assistance and she ended up sitting on the steps outside our house in the rain until a neighbour saw her and helped her up. It took several days for her to recover from this and she will not use taxies now. She does feel that on chatting to the drivers they seem to be confused over aspects of the organisation. We have complained on many occasions over the last years and things may improve for a week or so but then return to normal. We are grateful that transport is available but feel that the organistion leaves much to be desired.