Snapshot Report on Non Emergency Patient Transport Services

The report brings together over 70 experiences shared by local people over the past year, along with feedback from health professionals and organisations who support patients.

While many people praised Yorkshire Ambulance Service drivers for being caring, patient, and reliable, we also heard about the growing impact of stricter national eligibility rules introduced last year.

People told us they were struggling with unclear eligibility decisions, long waits on the phone, expensive alternative travel costs, and journeys that were too difficult to manage because of their health or mobility.

What people told us

We heard about a range of challenges, including:

• Being refused transport without a clear explanation.
• Paying up to £98 for a taxi to get home.
• Missing or delaying appointments because they couldn't travel.
• Long return waits after appointments, sometimes lasting several hours.
• Anxiety and hidden disabilities not always being recognised during assessments.

For people living with cancer, kidney disease, dementia, and long-term health conditions, these barriers were having a real impact on their health and wellbeing. We also heard that people living in rural communities often faced even greater difficulties because of limited public transport.

Working together across West Yorkshire

As we began hearing more concerns locally, we worked with Healthwatch Kirklees and Calderdale to understand whether similar issues were happening across West Yorkshire.

We also spoke with NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, which commissions the service, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which delivers it, to better understand the impact of the changes.

Our recommendations

Based on what people told us, we're calling for:

• A more compassionate assessment process that looks at the barriers people face, not just what they can physically do.
• Free phone access to the transport helpline.
• Clearer information about eligibility and decisions.
• Better coordination between healthcare appointments and transport services.
• More support for people who don't qualify but still struggle to travel.
• Further engagement with the groups most affected by transport barriers.

From listening to action

We'll be sharing these findings with NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, and other health and care partners across the region.

Colleagues who work across the area will be collating all local information and experiences shared with Healthwatch to report at West Yorkshire level.

Along with this, many of the people and organisations involved in this work told us they want to help develop practical, co-produced solutions that make it easier for people to get to the care they need. This would be a great opportunity to improve a system that is preventing people accessing the health care and treatment they need.

Read our full snapshot report on the Patient Transport Service to find out more about what local people told us and our recommendations for change.