Patients with mobility issues have been left stranded with no way of getting to and from their hospital appointments, according to a review.
Every weekday, more than 20,000 people use NHS non-emergency patient transport services to get to appointments, operations and services such as dialysis.
But a review by Healthwatch, the patient watchdog, revealed transport services across the country are sometimes cancelled at the last minute or patients are told they do not meet the requirements for transport.
Wheelchair user John Nye told The Independent he had to pay almost £100 for a wheelchair accessible taxi to get to and from his operation in June. The appointment was at 7am but patient transport was unable to take him before 8.30am.
“It cost me £98 for a wheelchair taxi that was contracted to the NHS who said I should not have had to pay,” the 82-year-old said.
“I do feel let down because I’m very independent and I get myself to all the appointments unless it’s one that I’m specifically told not to drive,” he said. “We’re supposed to be improving things for disabled access, but we’re not getting any better,” the wheelchair user of more than 20 years added.
Fran Swallow was refused patient transport to take her back home following an emergency operation on her bowel in October. The 80-year-old explained she had been in hospital for six days when she was discharged without any means of getting home and told to take a taxi.
“I was in a nightie and a dressing gown and only had a few belongings,” Ms Swallow said. She added: “I couldn’t even walk to the front door, I couldn’t walk that far.”
Her partner, who is partially sighted, was unable to pick her up and she did not have family in the area to rely on. Instead, she had to call on a neighbour for help.
In another instance, an 85-year-old who has “no car, cannot manage buses alone and can hardly walk” claims that because they are able to walk from their gate to a car, they were told they are not “eligible for transport”, Healthwatch reported.
The patient watchdog found people were expected to get public transport, which was often non-existent, particularly at weekends or early in the morning.
One patient using the service to attend dialysis appointments said transport would "arrive early, cancel trips and leave people stranded”.
Edmond Clottey, 52, needs to have regular dialysis appointments and has had trips cancelled last minute. He also explained that often the transport to and from the hospital carries several patients at once, meaning it can take up to two hours to travel between home and the hospital.
“It’s concerning, patient transport on the whole needs to be overhauled because it is not fit for purpose,” he told The Independent.
Fiona Loud, policy director at Kidney Care UK, said: “People who have their life-sustaining dialysis treatment in a hospital or dialysis unit have to travel to and from their sessions six times a week – just to stay alive.
“Sadly, transport is repeatedly ranked as one of the worst aspects of patient experience through our annual survey and our team regularly supports patients with transport challenges.”
Healthwatch stressed that those who need to get to NHS appointments should be given the support they need, which includes older people, disabled people and those requiring life-sustaining treatments.
“Hospital transport is under enormous pressure and seems to be being rationed more heavily than before as a result, to the detriment of some older people's ability to reach their appointments in good time, or sometimes at all,” Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said.
NHS England has been approached for a comment.
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