UCLH Patient Transport

UCLH Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) is provided to patients when it would be detrimental to their health or recovery to attend hospital appointments by any other means, including private car or taxi.

Who is eligible?

Patients will only qualify for NEPTS if they meet the standard NHS England eligibility criteria for Patients Transport Services (PTS). Some examples being:

•    Are bedbound and require a stretcher for travel
•    Need medical gases during their journey
•    Have cognition or mental capacity issues, such as dementia (assessed on a case-by-case basis)
•    Are wheelchair-bound (assessed on a case-by-case basis)
•    Need assistance being carried up to/down from their residence
•    Cannot walk without continual physical support (excluding walking aids like sticks or Zimmer frames)

Please note: Before your on-site appointment, please consider how you will travel to and from the hospital. The NHS expects most patients to use public or private transport, with assistance from relatives or friends if needed. The NEPTS services are not provided for social or financial reasons.

Service management

  • Transport Assessment Team

Other contact information

(Monday to Friday 9am-5pm)
Telephone: 020 3456 7010
Transport team
Email: Uclh.transport.department@nhs.net

For out of hours enquiries, G4S (Transport provider)
Telephone: 08009530374

If you feel you are eligible for NEPTS, please call the Patient Transport Assessment team on 020 3456 7010. You will then be assessed to check your eligibility under the NHS England national criteria.

A friend, relative or carer can call on your behalf if you need help with the assessment.

To help us plan our transport services efficiently we need 3 working day’s notice (excluding weekends and public Bank Holidays) and a maximum of 4 weeks before your appointment.

If you are unable to call 3 days in advance, we will make every effort to accommodate these short notice requests, if possible.

Yes, on the day before your hospital appointment we will call to:

  • make sure you are still coming to your appointment
  • confirm your address
  • tell you the approximate pick-up time
  • check that the correct type of vehicle has been booked for you.

We will assess whether an escort is needed following the NHS England national criteria.

Please check Other Transport options to NEPTS found below or ask for help from friends and relatives to support with your journey.

NEPTS is provided on medical not financial need, you may be able to claim your travel costs back via the health care travel costs scheme.

If you require assistance or more information on how to apply for other options to hospital transport, please contact the Tech Buddies Volunteer team, at: uclh.techbuddies@nhs.net.

 

We are sorry to hear that you are not happy with the service you have received. If you have been unable to resolve your concerns after speaking to a member of the Transport Management team and wish to complete a formal complaint, please contact the Complaints Department.

Complaints Department
Quality and Safety Department
UCLH, Second Floor West
250 Euston Road
London NW1 2PQ
Telephone: 020 3447 7413
Email: uclh.complaints@nhs.net
 

For more information on how to get to all UCLH sites, please visit the link: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/visitors/maps-and-travel

You will be dropped of at the front of the hospital and if you need any assistance we will help or organise for a porter to assist. The porter request may take up to 30 minutes.

If you need to collect any medication from the Pharmacy, please do so before letting us know that you are ready to go home.

We will try our best to get you home as soon as we can. We do try to collect most of our patients within 60 minutes, but on very busy days, you may have to wait up to 3 hours to be collected.

Please note, that journeys are planned to make the most effective use of our vehicles. This means that other patients may share the same vehicle with you.

If your appointment has been cancelled, rescheduled or no longer needed, please call us to let us know on 020 3456 7010, as soon as possible.