A new company will take over the contract for non-emergency patient transport in North Lincolnshire from March 6, 2019.

North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group has awarded the contract to Savoy Ventures Limited. The Kent-based firm will take over from Thames Ambulance Service Limited – which was served notice by the CCG in March.

The non-emergency transport system exists to support people to get to and from hospital when they are too poorly or are otherwise physically unable to manage the journey themselves.

Brian Wren, Chief Executive Officer at Savoy Ventures said: “We have spent 12 years working with a number of clients to develop, we believe, a patient-focused and efficient service. The company has targeted a number of new contracts specifically where we believe we can make a difference and we are delighted to have been awarded the contract for non-emergency patient transport in North Lincolnshire. We are looking forward to working with North Lincolnshire CCG and local stakeholders to ensure we make that difference.”

Any patient with transport already booked for on or after March 6 will automatically have their booking transferred to Savoy Ventures.

There is no need for patients to call the provider to check their bookings. The new service will be contacting patients who already have journeys booked for 6^th March onwards to confirm these bookings.

For patients who have healthcare appointments and need to book patient transport, they can do this by calling the service on 0800 1700 808. Calls will be answered by a call handler who will go through a number of questions to assess whether the patient is eligible. Where patients are not eligible, the service will signpost patients to a range of alternative transport solutions.

Jane Ellerton, Head of Strategic Commissioning at North Lincolnshire CCG, said: “We are pleased to have awarded the non-emergency patient transport contract to Savoy Ventures and look forward to working with them.

“Patient transport services are for those who have a medical condition that prevents them from getting to their appointment so it is essential those who really need the service get access to it.

“We engaged thoroughly with our patients ahead of undertaking a detailed procurement process. We are hopeful North Lincolnshire patients will see an improvement in service as a result.” 

Notes to editors

For more information, please contact NHS North Lincolnshire CCG Communications Manager Amy Byard at amy.byard@nhs.net or call 01652 251 047.